chem(o)- Also chemi-
Chemistry; chemical compounds; chemical reactions.
[English chemical.]
The more common form is chemo-, as for example in chemotherapy, the chemical treatment of disease; chemoreceptor, a cell responsive to a chemical stimulus; chemosynthesis, the creation of chemical substances from inorganic material by bacteria; and chemoprophylaxis, the use of drugs to prevent disease. Two examples using chemi- are chemiluminescence, light created chemically without heat, as fireflies do, and chemisorption, absorption of a substance held in place by chemical bonds.
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