Alchemy

alchemy [al-kuh-mee]

noun

Alchemy was the pseudoscientific predecessor of chemistry practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance that sought a method of transforming, or transmuting, base metals into gold. Besides gold, alchemists sought an elixir to prolong life indefinitely, a panacea or universal remedy, and an alkahest or universal solvent. Beyond just a form of chemistry, alchemy was also a speculative philosophy.