Χημία

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Demotic kmj, from Egyptian (kmt, literally “black land”). Cognate with Bohairic Coptic ⲭⲏⲙⲓ (khēmi) and Sahidic Coptic ⲕⲏⲙⲉ (kēme).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kʰɛː.mí.aː/ → /çiˈmi.a/ → /çiˈmi.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰɛː.mí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kʰe̝ˈmi.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /çiˈmi.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /çiˈmi.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /çiˈmi.a/

Proper noun

Χημίᾱ • (Khēmíā) f (genitive Χημίᾱς); first declension

1. Egypt
   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia V.26.33, (from Isis and Osiris: source link, translation link):

     Ἔτι τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα μελάγγειον οὖσαν, ὥσπερ τὸ μέλαν τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ, Χημίαν καλοῦσι

     Éti tḕn Aígupton en toîs málista melángeion oûsan, hṓsper tò mélan toû ophthalmoû, Khēmían kaloûsi

     • 1927 translation by Frank Cole Babbitt

       Egypt, moreover, which has the blackest of soils, they call by the same name as the black portion of the eye, “Chemia”

Declension

First declension of ἡ Χημῐ́ᾱ; τῆς Χημῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Χημῐ́ᾱ hē Khēmíā
Genitive	τῆς Χημῐ́ᾱς tês Khēmíās
Dative	τῇ Χημῐ́ᾳ têi Khēmíāi
Accusative	τὴν Χημῐ́ᾱν tḕn Khēmíān
Vocative	Χημῐ́ᾱ Khēmíā
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• Αἴγυπτος (Aíguptos)

Further reading

• Χημία in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “Χημία”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011
• “Χημία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press