alchemy
al.che.my \'al-k*-me-\ n [ME alkamie, alquemie, fr. MF or ML; MF alquemie, fr. ML a]lchymia, fr. Ar al-ki-miya-', fr. al the + ki-miya-' alchemy, fr. LGk che-meia 1: a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely prolonging life 2: a power or process of transforming something common into something preci ous