Amidum

Plants animals and natural materials · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A flour preparation described through whiteness and sun exposure.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 3; facsimile PDF page 331.

Historical Definition

Amidum, or Amilum, is the whitest flour made into bread in the sun.

Meaning

This unusually compressed definition joins a material, an appearance and a mode of preparation. Both Amidum and Amilum belong in the index. The wording should be retained even where it is unfamiliar: silently substituting a familiar modern product would conceal what the printed source actually says. A passage using the term may make the process clearer, but this entry alone gives neither a complete recipe nor the exact intended consistency of its “bread.”

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 3; facsimile PDF page 331 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Amidum