Kimia is an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

word and a feminine given name in

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

. It means

elixir of life The elixir of life, also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to cure all diseases. Alchemists in various ages and cultures sought the means ...

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

, or the

philosopher’s stone The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", a ...

. In ancient Persian poetry, kimia means "rare" or "unique." The word is from the

, ''khēmia'', or , ''khēmeia'',"alchemy", entry in ''The Oxford English Dictionary'', J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner, vol. 1, 2nd ed., 1989, . 'art of alloying metals', from χύμα (khúma, “fluid”), from χέω (khéō, “I pour”). The ultimate origin of the word is uncertain. According to the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

'', it may be derived from the greek , which is derived from the ancient

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

name of Egypt, ''khem'' or ''khm'', ''khame'', or ''khmi'', meaning "blackness", i.e., the rich dark soil of the Nile river valley. Therefore, alchemy can be seen as the "Egyptian art" or the "black art". However, it is also possible that ''al-kīmiyāʾ'' derived from , meaning "cast together". Alchemy is a philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia. It aims to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects. Latin words for Chemistry are derived from the Ancient Greek word χημία (kimia.) The meaning of Kimia, in the Persian literature refers to what is behind the ‘materialistic’ conception of alchemy, and instead to the secret of the spirit’s action in nature and the Universe, the macro-cosmos. By acquiring this secular wisdom of action, alchemists aspired to discover their inner (microcosmic) reality, and transmute themselves. Corbin, 1986, pp. 71-87, 196-208; Nasr, chapter 9 The word appears ubiquitously in Persian literature. Some early usages can be seen in

Vis and Ramin Vis, ViS, VIS, and other capitalizations may refer to: Places * Vis (island), a Croatian island in the Adriatic sea ** Vis (town), on the island of Vis * Vis (river), in south-central France * Vis, Bulgaria, a village in Haskovo Province * Vis ...

and Ferdowsi’s

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,00 ...

. Other samples in verse and prose are: The word Kimia has been frequently been used in other Persian poetry, including those of

Hafez Shirazi Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "Hafiz", ...

: or

Notable persons

Kimia Alizadeh Kimia Alizadeh Zonouzi ( fa, کیمیا علیزاده زنوزی, Kīmiyā Alīzādeh Zonūzī; born 10 July 1998) is an Iranian Taekwondo athlete. Alizadeh won a bronze medal in the taekwondo 57 kg weight class at the 2016 Summer Olympics ...

(born 1998), Iranian Olympian athlete and taekwondo player *

Kimia Hosseini Kimia Hosseini ( fa, کیمیا حسینی, born 29 July 2003) is an Iranian actress. Hosseini made her acting debut in 2009 at the age of nine, when she starred as daughter of main characters in Asghar Farhadi's Oscar-winning film ''A Separatio ...

(born 2003), Iranian actress * (born 1970), Japanese astronaut * (born 1989), Japanese racing driver

References

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