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The wordchemistry derives from the wordalchemy, which is found in various forms in European languages.

The word 'alchemy' itself derives from theArabic wordal-kīmiyāʾ (الكيمياء), whereinal- is the definite article 'the'. The ultimate origin of the word is uncertain,^[1] but the Arabic termkīmiyāʾ (كيمياء) is likely derived from either theAncient Greek wordkhēmeia (χημεία) or the similarkhēmia (χημία).^[2][3]

The Greek termkhēmeia, meaning "cast together"^[4] may refer to the art of alloying metals, from root words χύμα (khúma, "fluid"), from χέω (khéō, "I pour").^[5] Alternatively,khēmia may be derived from the ancientEgyptian name ofEgypt,khem orkhm,khame, orkhmi, meaning "blackness", likely in reference to the rich dark soil of theNile river valley.^[2]

There are two main views on the derivation of the Greek word. According to one, the word comes from the greekχημεία (chimeía), pouring, infusion, used in connexion with the study of the juices of plants, and thence extended to chemical manipulations in general; this derivation accounts for the old-fashioned spellings "chymist" and "chymistry". The other view traces it tokhem orkhame, hieroglyphkhmi, which denotes black earth as opposed to barren sand, and occurs inPlutarch asχημία(chimía); on this derivation alchemy is explained as meaning the "Egyptian art". The first occurrence of the word is said to be in a treatise ofJulius Firmicus, an astrological writer of the 4th century, but the prefix al there must be the addition of a later Arabic copyist. In English,Piers Plowman (1362) contains the phrase "experimentis of alconomye", with variants "alkenemye" and " alknamye". The prefixal began to be dropped about the middle of the 16th century (further details of which are given below).^[6]

According to the EgyptologistWallis Budge, the Arabic wordal-kīmiyaʾ actually means "the Egyptian [science]", borrowing from theCoptic word for "Egypt",kēme (or its equivalent in the MediaevalBohairic dialect of Coptic,khēme). This Coptic word derives fromDemotickmỉ, itself from ancientEgyptiankmt. The ancient Egyptian word referred to both the country and the colour "black" (Egypt was the "Black Land", by contrast with the "Red Land", the surrounding desert); so this etymology could also explain the nickname "Egyptian black arts". However, according toMahn, this theory may be an example offolk etymology.^[7] Assuming an Egyptian origin, chemistry is defined as follows:

Chemistry, from the ancientEgyptian word "khēmia" meaning transmutation of earth, is thescience ofmatter at theatomic tomolecular scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms, such asmolecules,crystals, andmetals.

Thus, according to Budge and others, chemistry derives from an Egyptian wordkhemein orkhēmia, "preparation of black powder", ultimately derived from the namekhem, Egypt. A decree ofDiocletian, written about 300 AD in Greek, speaks against "the ancient writings of the Egyptians, which treat of thekhēmiatransmutation of gold and silver".^[8]

Arabical-kīmiyaʾ oral-khīmiyaʾ (الكيمياء orالخيمياء), according to some, is thought to derive from the KoineGreek wordkhymeia (χυμεία) meaning "the art of alloying metals, alchemy"; in the manuscripts, this word is also writtenkhēmeia (χημεία) orkheimeia (χειμεία),^[9] which is the probable basis of the Arabic form. According toMahn, the Greek word χυμείαkhumeia originally meant "cast together", "casting together", "weld", "alloy", etc. (cf. Gk.kheein (χέειν) "to pour";khuma (χύμα), "that which is poured out, an ingot").^[7] Assuming a Greek origin, chemistry is defined as follows:

Chemistry, from theGreek wordχημεία (khēmeia) meaning "cast together" or "pour together", is thescience ofmatter at theatomic tomolecular scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms, such asmolecules,crystals, andmetals.

Later medieval Latin hadalchimia / alchymia "alchemy",alchimicus "alchemical", andalchimista "alchemist". The mineralogist and humanistGeorg Agricola (died 1555) was the first to drop the Arabic definite articleal-. In his Latin works from 1530 on he exclusively wrotechymia andchymista in describing activity that we today would characterize as chemical or alchemical. As a humanist, Agricola was intent on purifying words and returning them to their classical roots. He had no intent to make a semantic distinction betweenchymia andalchymia.^[10]

During the later sixteenth century Agricola's new coinage slowly propagated. It seems to have been adopted in most of the vernacular European languages followingConrad Gessner's adoption of it in his extremely popular pseudonymous work,Thesaurus Euonymi Philiatri De remediis secretis: Liber physicus, medicus, et partim etiam chymicus (Zurich 1552). Gessner's work was frequently re-published in the second half of the 16th century in Latin and was also published in a number of vernacular European languages, with the word spelled without theal-.^[10]

In the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe the formsalchimia andchimia (andchymia) were synonymous and interchangeable. The semantic distinction between a rational and practical science ofchimia and an occultalchimia arose only in the early eighteenth century.^[11]

In 16th, 17th and early 18th century English the spellings — both with and without the"al" — were usually with ani ory as inchimic / chymic / alchimic / alchymic. During the later 18th century the spelling was re-fashioned to use a lettere, as inchemic in English. In English after the spelling shifted fromchimical tochemical, there was corresponding shift fromalchimical toalchemical, which occurred in the early 19th century.^[12] In French, Italian, Spanish and Russian today it continues to be spelled with an i as in for example Italianchimica.

• History of chemistry
• History of science
• History of thermodynamics
• List of Arabic loanwords in English
• List of chemical element name etymologies