Anthos

Plants animals and natural materials · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A term whose sense changes between vegetable and metallic contexts.

In the book. Cheiri offers a closely related lesson: its sense also changes with the vegetable or mineral subject, while a qualified flower expression names an elixir.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 4; facsimile PDF page 332.

Historical Definition

Anthos, in vegetable matters, means rosemary flowers; in metals, it means the elixir or quintessence of gold.

Meaning

This is an explicit two-domain definition. In a passage about plants, the indicated referent is rosemary flowers. In one about metals, the term points instead toward gold’s elixir or quintessence. The reader should identify the domain before substituting a familiar material. The entry does not say that rosemary flowers and the golden elixir are materially identical.

The pair is also an example of the dictionary’s controlled use of flower vocabulary. A name can describe a plant part in one setting and a specially valued preparation in another. The context supplies the distinction that the isolated headword cannot.

Use in the Book

Cheiri offers a closely related lesson: its sense also changes with the vegetable or mineral subject, while a qualified flower expression names an elixir. Read the whole expression and its subject together. Elixir and Quintessentia provide the next level of explanation for the metallic sense.

Places to Read

Cheiri. A term whose sense depends on both subject matter and qualification.

Elixir. A transformative ferment, or a thing’s essence.

Quintessentia. A purified spiritual matter obtained from living things.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 4; facsimile PDF page 332 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Anthos ; compare Cheiri, Elixir, Quintessentia

See also. Cheiri; Elixir; Quintessentia