Phrase guide

physical chemistry

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The science that uses theories and techniques from physics to study chemical systems.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the branch of chemistry dealing with the physical properties of chemical substances

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: chemistry, chemical science

History

Etymology

Calque of Russian физи́ческая хи́мия (fizíčeskaja xímija). Coined by polymath Mikhail Lomonosov in 1752.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 物理化學 /物理化学 (wùlǐ huàxué) — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Dutch: fysische chemie — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Finnish: fysikaalinen kemia — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Georgian: ფიზიკური ქიმია (piziḳuri kimia) — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • German: physikalische Chemie — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Greek: φυσικοχημεία (fysikochimeía) — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Indonesian: kimia fisika — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Japanese: 物理化学 — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Persian: شیمیفیزیک (šimi-fizik) — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Polish: chemia fizyczna — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Portuguese: físico-química — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Portuguese: química física — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Portuguese: fisioquímica — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Romanian: chimie fizică — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Serbo-Croatian: fizikalna kemija — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Spanish: fisicoquímica — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Thai: เคมีเชิงฟิสิกส์ — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Turkish: fizikokimya — the chemistry subdiscipline
  • Vietnamese: hoá học vật lí — the chemistry subdiscipline