fire philosopher
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]A calque of Latin philosophus per ignem (“philosopher by fire”).
Noun
[edit]fire philosopher (plural fire philosophers)
- (obsolete) Synonym of alchemist.
- 1834, James Rennie, Alphabet of scientific chemistry, for the use of beginners, New edition, London: Orr and Smith, →OCLC, page 1:
- Most of such experiments were made by means of fire, and hence, […] the experimenters were termed Alchemists, meaning “The Firists,” or “The Fire Philosophers;” […]