alchemy

/ˈælkəmi/

/ˈælkɪmi/

Other forms: alchemies

If your favorite but perpetually losing team picks up a couple of new players and the result is suddenly an unbeatable combo, that's alchemy — any seemingly magical act involving the combining of elements into something new.

In medieval times, alchemy meant the mysterious science of trying to convert one form of matter into another using fire, potions, spells, and all kinds of other tricks. Alchemists often got a bad rap for their obsession with trying to turn base metals into gold, but in fact true alchemy was concerned with a far loftier ideal — that of finding a "universal elixir" that could overcome death.

Definitions of alchemy

1. noun

   a pseudoscientific forerunner of chemistry in medieval times
   type of:

   pseudoscience

   an activity resembling science but based on fallacious assumptions
2. noun

   the way two individuals relate to each other
   “a mysterious alchemy brought them together”

   synonyms: chemistry, interpersonal chemistry

   type of:

   social relation

   a relation between living organisms (especially between people)