Etymograph

English

chemistry

Chemistry is chemist + -ry; chemist comes from Latin alchimista, from Arabic اَلْكِيمِيَاء ‘alchemy’.

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentاَلْكِيمِيَاء1‘alchemy’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalchimista1
  3. English1500–presentchemist1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1979chemistry1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English chemistry
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Tia Cross, Lesbian Family Album: “Learning the very complicated chemistries necessary to reproduce reality…”.

Lineage

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentاَلْكِيمِيَاءWiktionary, English chemistry‘alchemy’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalchimistaWiktionary, English chemistry
  3. English1500–presentchemistWiktionary, English chemistry
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1979chemistryWiktionary, English chemistry. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Tia Cross, Lesbian Family Album: “Learning the very complicated chemistries necessary to reproduce reality…”

The story

First coined 1605, from chemist + -ry.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Arabic اَلْكِيمِيَاء

Today it means

noun 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chemistry”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Arabic اَلْكِيمِيَاء / chemistry

Shirt and support for this word