# chemistry
## English

Wikiversity

### Etymology

First coined 1605, from chemist +‎ -ry. From chemist, chymist, from Latin alchimista, from Arabic اَلْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʔ), 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: /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.
** 1979 December 29, Tia Cross, “Lesbian Family Album”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 23, page 14:Learning the very complicated chemistries necessary to reproduce reality into a picture using light
** 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).
* 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.
* (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.
** 2019 February 25, Brett Dawson, Fred Katz, “How power forward Markieff Morris might fit in with the Thunder”, in The Athletic‎:He and [Dennis] Schröder developing pick-and-roll chemistry will certainly be an objective. [Markieff] Morris has a tendency to linger around the mid-range area after setting ball screens, but when he’s popping beyond the 3-point line, he can hurt defenses.
* (medicine, countable, informal, sometimes proscribed) A blood test to measure the amount of various components of the serum (such as electrolytes, creatinine, and glucose).
    Coordinate term: serology
    Diagnosis is presumptive by history and physical examination and is confirmed by chemistries.

#### 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
* analytical chemistry
* 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
* crystallochemistry
* cytochemistry
* dendrochemistry
* ecochemistry
* electrochemistry
* endochemistry
* exochemistry
* femtochemistry
* fluorochemistry
* galactochemistry
* geochemistry
* glaciochemistry
* glycochemistry
* green chemistry
* hadrochemistry
* haematochemistry
* heliochemistry
* hematochemistry
* histochemistry
* hydrochemistry
* hydrogenochemistry
* hydrogeochemistry
* iatrochemistry
* immunochemistry
* immunocytochemistry
* immunohistochemistry
* inorganic chemistry
* isotopic chemistry
* legal chemistry
* limnochemistry
* lipochemistry
* lithochemistry
* macrochemistry
* magnetochemistry
* mechanochemistry
* medicinal chemistry
* membrane mimetic chemistry
* metachemistry
* metallobiochemistry
* metallochemistry
* meteorochemistry
* microchemistry
* mineralochemistry
* nanochemistry
* necrochemistry
* neurobiochemistry
* neurochemistry
* nitrochemistry
* nonchemistry
* nuclear chemistry
* nucleochemistry
* oceanochemistry
* oenochemistry
* oleochemistry
* organic chemistry
* organometallic chemistry
* oxy-chemistry
* palaeogeochemistry
* pedochemistry
* petrochemistry
* petrolochemistry
* pharmacochemistry
* photochemistry
* photoelectrochemistry
* photomechanochemistry
* physical chemistry
* physicochemistry
* physiochemistry
* physiological chemistry
* phytochemistry
* piezochemistry
* plasmochemistry
* pneumochemistry
* polychemistry
* practical chemistry
* protochemistry
* psychochemistry
* pure chemistry
* pyrochemistry
* quantum chemistry
* radiation chemistry
* radiochemistry
* regiochemistry
* Reppe chemistry
* selenochemistry
* semiochemistry
* sialochemistry
* silico-chemistry
* sociochemistry
* soil biochemistry
* soil chemistry
* sonochemistry
* spectrochemistry
* spectroelectrochemistry
* stereochemistry
* suprachemistry
* thanatochemistry
* thermochemistry
* topochemistry
* toxicochemistry
* tribochemistry
* virochemistry
* wet chemistry
* xenochemistry
* xylochemistry
* zoöchemistry
* zoochemistry

#### Related terms

* alchemy
* chemical
* chemical equation
* chemist

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.