ONLINE
ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY:
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chemist
(n.)
- 1560s, chymist, "alchemist,"
from Fr. chimiste, from Mod.L. chimista, reduced from alchimista
(see alchemy).
Modern spelling is from c.1790. Meaning "chemical scientist"
is from 1620s; meaning "dealer in medicinal drugs"
(mostly in England) is from 1745.
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alchemy
(n.)
- mid-14c., from Old French alchimie
(14c.), alquemie (13c.), from Medieval Latin alkimia, from Arabic
al-kimiya, from Greek khemeioa (found c.300 C.E. in a decree of
Diocletian against "the old writings of the Egyptians"),
all meaning "alchemy." Perhaps from an old name for Egypt
(Khemia, lit. "land of black earth," found in Plutarch),
or from Greek khymatos "that which is poured out," from
khein "to pour," related to khymos "juice, sap"
[Klein, citing W. Muss-Arnolt, calls this folk etymology]. The word
seems to have elements of both origins.
Mahn ... concludes, after an elaborate investigation, that Gr.
khymeia was probably the original, being first applied to
pharmaceutical chemistry, which was chiefly concerned with juices or
infusions of plants; that the pursuits of the Alexandrian alchemists
were a subsequent development of chemical study, and that the
notoriety of these may have caused the name of the art to be
popularly associated with the ancient name of Egypt. [OED]
- The al- is the Arabic definite
article, "the." The art and the name were adopted by the
Arabs from Alexandrians and thence returned to Europe via Spain.
Alchemy was the "chemistry" of the Middle Ages and early
modern times; since c.1600 the word has been applied distinctively
to the pursuit of the transmutation of baser metals into gold,
which, along with the search for the universal solvent and the
panacea, were the chief occupations of early chemistry.
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