Etymology

Etymology:
The word chemistry comes from the earlier study of alchemy, which is a set of practices that encompasses elements of chemistry, metallurgy, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, mysticism and medicine. Alchemy in turn is derived from the Arabic word "كيمياء" meaning "value", it is commonly thought of as the quest to turn lead or another common starting material into gold. This linguistic relation between the pursuit of value and alchemy is thought to have Egyptian origins. Many believe that the Arabic word "alchemy" is derived from the word Chemi or Kimi, which is the ancient name of Egypt in Egyptian. The word was subsequently borrowed by the Greeks, and from the Greeks by the Arabs when they occupied Alexandria (Egypt) in the 7th century. The Arabs added the Arabic definite article "al" to the word, resulting in the word "الكيمياء" (al-kīmiyā). Thus, an alchemist was called a 'chemist' in popular speech, and later the suffix "-ry" was added to this to describe the art of the chemist as "chemistry".

In the history of science, the etymology of the word chemistry is a debatable issue. It is agreed that the word “alchemy” is a European one, derived from Arabic, but the origin of the root word, chem, is uncertain. Words similar to it have been found in most ancient languages, with different meanings, but conceivably somehow related to alchemy. In fact, the Persians, Greeks, Chinese, and Indians usually referred to what Westerners call alchemy as “The Art,” or by terms denoting change or transmutation. Most historians, however, agree that the ancient Egyptians were the first chemists. French chemist Antoine Fourcroy, for example, in his 1782 Leçons élémentaires d’histoire naturelle et de chemie, divides the early history of chemistry into four epochs: Egypt, the Arabs, alchemy, and the pharmaceutical chemistry begun by Paracelsus.
The basic roots of the word "chemistry", essentially, derive from the ancient study of how to transmute "earthen" metals into "gold" in combination with thoughts on alchemical spells as well endeavors into a quest for the Philosopher's stone. The majority of authors agreed that the word "chemistry" has an Egyptian origin, based on the ancient Egyptian word kēme (chem), which stands for black. In short, most agree that alchemy was born in ancient Egypt, where the word “Khem” was used in reference to the fertility of the flood plains around the Nile.

Some, however, maintain that the word "chemistry" has a Greek origin, based on the Greek word χημεία (chemeia) meaning "cast together".Others reason that the word alchemy is derived from the Greek for "The Egyptian Art".

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.