Chemistry (etymology)

Chemistry (etymology)

In the history of science, the etymology of the word chemistry is a debatable issue. It is agreed that the word derives from the word alchemy, which is a European one, derived from the Arabic al-kīmīā (الكيمياء). The Arabic term is derived from the Greek χημία or χημεία. However, the ultimate origin of the root word, chem, is uncertain.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the majority theory is that al-kīmīā is derived from χημία, which is derived from the ancient Egyptian name of Egypt (khem, khame, or khmi, meaning "black earth", contrasting with the surrounding desert.) Therefore, alchemy is the "Egyptian art". However, it is also possible that al-kīmīā was derived from χημεία, meaning "cast together".

Traditionally, the science of alchemy was once considered to have sprung from great Egyptian figure named by the Greeks "Hermes Trismegistus" (the "thrice-great" Hermes, celebrated as priest, king, and scholar), who is thought to have been the founder of the art. Reputed to have lived about 1900 B.C., he was highly celebrated for his wisdom and skill in the operations of nature. In 1614 Isaac Casaubon demonstrated that the works attributed to Hermes – the so-called "Hermetic corpus" – were actually written pseudonymously during the first three centuries of the Common Era.