chimia

Forms

chīmia f sg (genitive chīmiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek χημεία (khēmeía), the Greek form Du Cange gives;^[2][3] the DMLBS gives the spelling χυμεία (khumeía).^[4] Köbler treats the word as a variant of chymia,^[5] and Wiktionary as a variant of chēmīa.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Du Cange cites the phrase scientia chimiae from Firmicus Maternus (343/350 AD),^[2][5] for the art of making gold.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Du Cange explains the word as the sacred art of making gold.^[2] In Medieval Latin it means chemistry or alchemy.^[3] Roger Bacon writes “scias quod chimia est scientia que non est vera” (“know that chimia is a science that is not true”).^[4]

Timeline

• 343/350 AD – Firmicus Maternus speaks of scientia chimiae, according to Du Cange.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) The art of making gold, alchemy.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Chemistry, alchemy.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
3. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de