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Vegetabilia
Plants animals and natural materials · A Chymical Dictionary
At a Glance
The word. Growing things described through rootedness and branching.
In the book. This is a broad account of a natural kingdom.
A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 46; facsimile PDF page 374.
Historical Definition
Vegetabilia are things that grow with a root fixed in earth and a stem and branches in air, such as herbs, plants and trees.
Meaning
The definition organizes the vegetable category through a relation to earth and air. A fixed root and an exposed stem and branches give the structural description. The examples are herbs, plants and trees.
Use in the Book
This is a broad account of a natural kingdom. It need not imply that every plant discussed by an author displays the same conspicuous trunk or branches. The text’s own examples establish the scope intended by the compiler.
Places to Read
Quintessentia. A purified spiritual matter obtained from living things.
Sophia herba. A plant identified as a particularly valued kind of bonewort.
In This Edition
Vegetable is used in its historical sense of growing plant life, rather than restricted to the modern culinary category. The Latin heading preserves that wider use.
Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 46; facsimile PDF page 374 — Facsimile
See also. Quintessentia; Sophia herba