chemistry
English
Wikiversity
Etymology
First coined 1605, from chemist + -ry. From chemist, chymist, from Latin alchimista, from Arabic اَلْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʾ), 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)
- (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.
- (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).
- 1984, North American Lake Management Society, Lake and Reservoir Management: Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference (page 250)
- 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.
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- (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
- See also Thesaurus:chemistry
Derived terms
- actinochemistry
- agrochemistry
- applied chemistry
- astrochemistry
- atmochemistry
- bacteriochemistry
- biochemistry
- biogeochemistry
- bucket chemistry
- carbochemistry
- chemistry read
- click chemistry
- clinical biochemistry
- clinical chemistry
- combinatorial chemistry
- computational chemistry
- coordination chemistry
- cosmochemistry
- cryochemistry
- cytochemistry
- dendrochemistry
- ecochemistry
- electrochemistry
- endochemistry
- exochemistry
- femtochemistry
- fluorochemistry
- galactochemistry
- geochemistry
- glycochemistry
- green chemistry
- haematochemistry
- heliochemistry
- histochemistry
- hydrochemistry
- hydrogenochemistry
- hydrogeochemistry
- iatrochemistry
- immunochemistry
- immunocytochemistry
- immunohistochemistry
- inorganic chemistry
- isotopic chemistry
- limnochemistry
- lipochemistry
- lithochemistry
- macrochemistry
- magnetochemistry
- mechanochemistry
- medicinal chemistry
- membrane mimetic chemistry
- metallobiochemistry
- meteorochemistry
- microchemistry
- mineralochemistry
- nanochemistry
- neurobiochemistry
- neurochemistry
- nitrochemistry
- nonchemistry
- nuclear chemistry
- nucleochemistry
- oceanochemistry
- oleochemistry
- organic chemistry
- organometallic chemistry
- oxy-chemistry
- palaeogeochemistry
- pedochemistry
- petrochemistry
- petrolochemistry
- pharmacochemistry
- photochemistry
- photoelectrochemistry
- photomechanochemistry
- physical chemistry
- physiological chemistry
- phytochemistry
- piezochemistry
- plasmochemistry
- pneumochemistry
- polychemistry
- practical chemistry
- pure chemistry
- pyrochemistry
- quantum chemistry
- radiation chemistry
- radiochemistry
- regiochemistry
- selenochemistry
- semiochemistry
- silico-chemistry
- sociochemistry
- soil biochemistry
- soil chemistry
- sonochemistry
- spectrochemistry
- spectroelectrochemistry
- stereochemistry
- thermochemistry
- toxicochemistry
- virochemistry
- wet chemistry
- xenochemistry
- xylochemistry
- zoöchemistry
- zoochemistry
Related terms
- alchemy
- chemical
- chemical equation
- chemist
Translations
branch of natural science
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application of chemical theory and method to a particular substance
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mutual attraction between two people
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as modifier: relating to or using chemistry
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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