alchemist
n. countablen. a person from history who tried to turn ordinary metals into gold or find a way to live forever using magic and early science.
n. a practitioner of an early form of chemical philosophy that aimed to achieve the transmutation of base metals into gold and the discovery of a universal cure for disease.
The alchemist spent years trying to turn lead into gold.
In medieval stories, the alchemist is often shown working in a dark room filled with glass jars and old books.
While modern science views the alchemist as a precursor to the chemist, their work was deeply rooted in mystical traditions and the search for spiritual perfection through material change.
From Old French alquemiste (French alchimiste), from Medieval Latin alchemista. Equivalent to alchemy + -ist.