The word chemistry comes from the earlier study of alchemy, which is a pseudoscientific practice which encompasses elements of chemistry, metallurgy, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, mysticism and medicine. Alchemy is commonly thought of as the quest to turn lead or another common starting material into gold.[21] As to the origin of the word "alchemy" the question is a debatable one; it certainly can be traced back to the Greeks, and some, following E. Wallis Budge, have also asserted Egyptian origins. Many believe that the word "alchemy" is derived from the word Chemi or Kimi, which is the name of Egypt in Egyptian[22][23][24]. The word was subsequently borrowed by the Greeks, and from the Greeks by the Arabs when they occupied Alexandria (Egypt) in the 7th century. The Arabs added the Arabic definite article "al" to the word, resulting in the word ???????? "al-kimiya", from which is derived the old French alkemie. A tentative outline is as follows:

1. Egyptian alchemy [3,000 BCE – 400 BCE], formulate early "element" theories such as the Ogdoad.
2. Greek alchemy [332 BCE – 642 CE], the Greek king Alexander the Great conquers Egypt and founds Alexandria, having the world's largest library, where scholars and wise men gather to study.
3. Arab alchemy [642 CE – 1200], the Arabs invade Alexandria; Jabir is the main chemist
4. European alchemy [1300 – present], Pseudo-Geber builds on Arabic chemistry
5. Chemistry [1661], Boyle writes his classic chemistry text The Sceptical Chymist
6. Chemistry [1787], Lavoisier writes his classic Elements of Chemistry
7. Chemistry [1803], Dalton publishes his Atomic Theory

Thus, an alchemist was called a 'chemist' in popular speech, and later the suffix "-ry" was added to this to describe the art of the chemist as "chemistry".