Alchemy is an old word with a very specific meaning and a newer, more metaphorical one.

Core definition

  • In its classic sense, alchemy is a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy that aimed to:
    • Turn base metals (like lead) into gold
    • Discover a universal cure for disease
    • Find a way to prolong life indefinitely
  • In a broader, modern sense, people use “alchemy” for any power or process that transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way (for example, turning a struggling team into a winning one).

Quick historical snapshot

  • Alchemy has roots in the ancient world (Egypt, the Middle East, Greece) and later developed in the Islamic world and medieval Europe.
  • It mixed early chemistry with philosophy, religion, and mysticism, and influenced later fields like pharmacology and modern chemistry before being discredited as a science by the 18th–19th centuries.

How people talk about it today

  • Some modern writers and practitioners treat alchemy as a symbolic or spiritual practice about personal transformation —turning “life’s lemons into lemonade,” or transforming pain into growth.
  • In everyday language, calling something “alchemy” usually implies a kind of almost-magical combination or transformation, especially when the exact mechanism is hard to explain.

TL;DR: Alchemy originally meant a medieval blend of proto‑chemistry and philosophy focused on turning base metals into gold and finding universal cures and long life; today, it often means any mysterious or profound transformation, including psychological or spiritual change.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.