chemical
Noun pluralchemicals
Pluralchemicals
- 1Relating to chemistry, or to the properties and reactions of substances.
She published several papers on chemical bonding.
The factory follows strict rules for handling chemical waste.
UsageUsually before a noun (chemical reaction, chemical change, chemical waste), and rarely with very or more.
Note
The scientist's sense names a level at which matter can be described. An 1883 article in the journal Science sorted the physiology of things into dynamical, chemical and biotical: minerals were dynamical and chemical, while living forms were all three.
- 2Any specific element, compound, or alloy regarded as a distinct substance.
The lab stores each chemical in a clearly labeled container.
Several chemicals reacted violently the moment they were combined.
Similarsubstance
Note
To a chemist the noun is neutral. Hydrogen and sulfur are both chemicals, and so is any element, compound or alloy, whether dug from the ground or made in a lab. That neutrality is the thing to keep straight, because everyday speech often means the "artificial compound" sense, where chemicals are the opposite of natural products.
- 3A man-made substance, thought of as opposed to anything natural, especially one added to food, water, or the body.
Critics worry about the chemicals sprayed on crops.
My grandmother refused to put a single chemical on her vegetable garden, relying on compost and picking off pests by hand.
UsageOften plural and set against natural: no added chemicals, chemical-free.
- 4Relating to materials or processes not normally present in nature or in a given product.
Customers wanted snacks free of chemical preservatives.
The treatment relies on a chemical process rather than a natural one.
UsageUsually before a noun, set against natural: chemical additives, chemical fertilizers.
Similarartificial, synthetic
Note
Here the word stops describing a science and starts drawing a line between the made and the found. Chemical preservatives are ones a product would not otherwise contain, and the implied opposite is natural. Keep this sense apart from the scientific meaning, under which any substance has chemical properties. The two can clash in one sentence, so it helps to make clear which line you are drawing.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Substances have chemical properties in the scientific sense, regardless of whether they are natural or manufactured. en.wikipedia.org
Less common meanings
- 5A drug that produces addiction.
In recovery meetings, members talk openly about the chemical that took over their lives.
He just swapped one chemical for another, quitting pills only to start drinking heavily.
Similardrug
Note
It belongs to the language of addiction and recovery, which also speaks of chemical dependency, grouping alcohol with other drugs. In recovery talk a person may name the chemical that took over their life. The word is so ordinary that context has to carry this meaning. Without that context, a listener will hear the neutral substance instead.
- 6Relating to alchemy, the early art of transmuting substances.
Note
This meaning keeps the word's alchemical roots in view: it was formed from New Latin chemicus, built on chemia, a shortened form of alchemia, "alchemy", plus -al, "related to". In older texts, a chemical recipe or the chemical art often means alchemy rather than laboratory science. The sense is obsolete, so use it only when quoting or deliberately evoking that world. In modern prose a reader will hear the scientific meaning instead.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from New Latin "chēmicus" ("chemical") combined with the suffix "-al" ("related to").
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Current Wiktionary derives chemical from New Latin chēmicus plus -al. Its entry for English chemic gives adjectival senses relating to chemistry or alchemy and the noun “chemist” or “alchemist,” rather than “alchemy.” en.wiktionary.org
- The suffix -al means “related to.” en.wiktionary.org