From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Alchemy \Al"che*my\, n. [OF. alkemie, arquemie, F. alchimie, Ar.
al-k[imac]m[imac]a, fr. late Gr. ?, for ?, a mingling,
infusion, ? juice, liquid, especially as extracted from
plants, fr. ? to pour; for chemistry was originally the art
of extracting the juices from plants for medicinal purposes.
Cf. Sp. alquimia, It. alchimia. Gr. ? is prob. akin to L.
fundere to pour, Goth. guitan, AS. ge['o]tan, to pour, and so
to E. fuse. See {Fuse}, and cf. {Chemistry}.]
1. An imaginary art which aimed to transmute the baser metals
into gold, to find the panacea, or universal remedy for
diseases, etc. It led the way to modern chemistry.
[1913 Webster]
2. A mixed metal composed mainly of brass, formerly used for
various utensils; hence, a trumpet. [Obs.]
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Put to their mouths the sounding alchemy. --Milton.
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3. Miraculous power of transmuting something common into
something precious.
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Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy. --Shak.
[1913 Webster] Alchymistic
Alchymist
Alchymic
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
alchemy
n 1: the way two individuals relate to each other; "their
chemistry was wrong from the beginning -- they hated each
other"; "a mysterious alchemy brought them together" [syn:
{chemistry}, {interpersonal chemistry}, {alchemy}]
2: a pseudoscientific forerunner of chemistry in medieval times
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