chemistry

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English

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Etymology

First coined 1605, from chemist +‎ -ry. From chemist, chymist, from Latin alchimista, from Arabic اَلْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʔ), from article اَل (al-) + Ancient Greek χυμεία (khumeía, “art of alloying metals”), from χύμα (khúma, “fluid”), from χυμός (khumós, “juice”), from χέω (khéō, “I pour”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: kĕm'ĭstrē, IPA(key): /ˈkɛm.ɪ.stɹi/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

chemistry (countable and uncountable, plural chemistries)

  1. (uncountable) The branch of natural science that deals with the composition and constitution of substances and the changes that they undergo as a consequence of alterations in the constitution of their molecules.
  2. (countable) An application of chemical theory and method to a particular substance.
    • 1984, North American Lake Management Society, Lake and Reservoir Management: Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference, page 250:
      The aquatic chemistries of iron and manganese are similar; this “is reflected geologically in their common association in rocks of all kinds” (Bortleson and Lee, 1974).
  3. The chemical properties and reactions of a particular organism, environment etc.
    • 2022 September 29, Carl Zimmer, “A New Approach to Spotting Tumors: Look for Their Microbes”, in The New York Times‎:
      But some microbes manage to move to new organs to get inside tumors. It’s possible that the particular chemistry inside a tumor, such as its level of oxygen, helps determine which microbes will thrive there.
  4. (informal) The mutual attraction between two people; rapport.
    The on-screen chemistry between the lead actors led many viewers to believe they were a couple in real life.
    The coach attributed their losses to poor team chemistry.

Usage notes

  • Historical note: This word and its derivatives were formerly spelled chy- or sometimes chi- (i.e., chymistry, chymist, chymical, etc., or chimistry, chimist, chimical, etc.) with pronunciation depending on the spelling.
  • Chymistry is now sometimes used specifically to refer to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century chemistry, when it was not yet fully distinct from alchemy.

Meronyms

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Translations

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