[2][3] The Greek term khēmeia, meaning "cast together" [4] may refer to the art of alloying metals, from root words χύμα (khúma, "fluid"), from χέω (khéō, "I pour").
[5] Alternatively, khēmia may be derived from the ancient Egyptian name of Egypt, khem or khm, khame, or khmi, meaning "blackness", likely in reference to the rich dark soil of the Nile river valley.
According to one, the word comes from the greek χημεία (chimeía), pouring, infusion, used in connexion with the study of the juices of plants, and thence extended to chemical manipulations in general; this derivation accounts for the old-fashioned spellings "chymist" and "chymistry".
The other view traces it to khem or khame, hieroglyph khmi, which denotes black earth as opposed to barren sand, and occurs in Plutarch as χημία(chimía); on this derivation alchemy is explained as meaning the "Egyptian art".
A decree of Diocletian, written about 300 AD in Greek, speaks against "the ancient writings of the Egyptians, which treat of the khēmia transmutation of gold and silver".
[7] Assuming a Greek origin, chemistry is defined as follows: Later medieval Latin had alchimia / alchymia "alchemy", alchimicus "alchemical", and alchimista "alchemist".
Gessner's work was frequently re-published in the second half of the 16th century in Latin and was also published in a number of vernacular European languages, with the word spelled without the al-.