chemistry
KEM-uh-stree · noun
Origin
Chemistry was coined in 1605 from chemist plus the suffix -ry. Chemist traces back through French chimiste and Latin alchimista to Arabic al-kīmiyāʔ, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek khumeía, meaning the art of alloying metals.
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Journey
Behind khumeía sits khúma, 'fluid,' from khumós, 'juice,' and ultimately khéō, 'to pour' — so a word once tied to pouring and mixing liquids and metals grew into the name for the whole science of matter and its changes.
Related words
It shares its root chain with chemist, the French chimiste and Middle French chymie, which all pass through the same Greek word for the art of alloying metals.