Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AL'CHI-MY, n. [It. alchimia; Ar. al, the, and كِيمِياَ kimia, secret, hidden, or the occult art, from كَمَي kamai, to hide. See Chimistry.]

1. The more sublime and difficult parts of chimistry, and chiefly such as relate to the transmutation of metals into gold, the finding a universal remedy for diseases, and an alkahest or universal solvent, and other things now treated as ridiculous. This pretended science was much cultivated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but is now held in contempt.
2. Formerly, a mixed metal used for utensils.