chemist
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
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7 characters
Language
English
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "chemist", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "chemist" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "chemist" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
chemist is aEnglishnoun. It means: A person who specializes in the science of chemistry, especially at a professional level. Pronounced /ˈkɛmɪst/. Often confused with chest and Christ.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chemist |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɛmɪst/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #14,718 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for chemist is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɛmɪst/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,718 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for chemist, with forms such as "cchemist", "cehmist", and "cheimst". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "chest", "Christ", "cherish", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek χῠ́μᾰ (khŭ́mă) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is chemist, spelled C-H-E-M-I-S-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A person who specializes in the science of chemistry, especially at a professional level.
- 2Synonym of pharmacist.
- 3Synonym of pharmacy, especially as a standalone shop or general store.
- 4An alchemist.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek χῠ́μᾰ (khŭ́mă) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek χυμείᾱ (khumeíā)bor. Arabic الْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʔ)bor. Medieval Latin alchēmia ▲ Ancient Greek χυμείᾱ (khumeíā)influ. New Latin chimiabor. Middle French chymie French chimie Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ιστής (-istḗs)der. Latin -istabor. French -iste French chimistebor. English chemist First attested 1562, borrowed from French chimiste, from Medieval Latin chimista, from earlier alchimista (literally “alchemist”), from Arabic الْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʔ), with article اَلْ (al-) + Ancient Greek χυμεία (khumeía, “art of alloying metals”), from χύμα (khúma, “fluid”), from χυμός (khumós, “juice”), from χέω (khéō, “I pour”). The pronunciation with initial /k/ is based on the Graeco-Latin etymology rather than on the French word, where the pronunciation with /ʃ/ is based on native French orthography. As a synonym for pharmacy, a metonymous use of the proprietor to stand for their shop.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cchemist,cehmist,cheimst,chemisst,chemistt,chemits,chemmist,chemsit,chhemist,chmeist,hcemist
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for chemist
Misspelling Variants of "chemist"
Frequency rank: #14,718 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index: