See Also: alchemy(medicine)
alchemy(dictionary)
alchemy(encyclopedia)
alchemy(dictionary)

alchemy (iou)



alchemy noun. Also alchymy. LME.
[Old French alkemie, -kamie (mod. alchimie) from medieval Latin alchimia, -chemia from Arab. al-kimiya', from al AL-2 + kimiya' from Greek khem(e)ia art of transmuting metals. The var. with -chym- by assoc. with Greek khymeia infusion.]
The chemistry of the Middle Ages and the 16th cent.: now usu. connoting the pursuit of the transmutation of baser metals into gold, and the search for the elixir of life, etc. LME.
b. fig. Miraculous power of transmutation or extraction. E17.
Shakespeare Sonnets Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy.
A composition, mainly of brass, imitating gold. obsolete exc. Hist. LME.
b. fig. Glittering dross. L16-M17.
Donne Compared to this All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
c. A trumpet made of alchemy or similar metal. literary. M17-E19.
Milton Four speedy cherubim Put to their mouths the sounding alchymie.