chemist
English
Chemist in a white lab coat
Alternative forms
- chimist, chymist (obsolete)
Etymology
First attested 1562, borrowed from French chimiste, from Medieval Latin chimista, from earlier alchimista (literally “alchemist”), from Arabic الْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʾ), from article al- + Ancient Greek χυμεία (khumeía, “art of alloying metals”), from χύμα (khúma, “fluid”), from χυμός (khumós, “juice”), from χέω (khéō, “I pour”). As a synonym for pharmacy, a metonymous use of the proprietor to stand for their shop.
Pronunciation
- enPR: kem'ĭst, IPA(key): /ˈkɛmɪst/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file)
Noun
chemist (plural chemists)
- A person who specializes in the science of chemistry, especially at a professional level.
- 2013 August 10, “A new prescription”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
- As the world's drug habit shows, governments are failing in their quest to monitor every London window-box and Andean hillside for banned plants. But even that Sisyphean task looks easy next to the fight against synthetic drugs. No sooner has a drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one.
-
- (chiefly Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana) Synonym of pharmacist.
- (chiefly Britain, Australia, New Zealand) Synonym of pharmacy, especially as a standalone shop or general store.
- (obsolete) An alchemist.
Derived terms
- inorganic chemist
- organic chemist
Related terms
- chemistry
- alchemist
Translations
person working in chemistry
|
Anagrams
- chimest, mitches