Matrices rerum

Elements principles and the natural world · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. The elements considered as matrices of things.

In the book. Elementum provides the book’s separate account of elemental essence.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 32; facsimile PDF page 360.

Historical Definition

Matrices rerum are the elements.

Meaning

Matrix-language gives the elements a containing or generative role. The definition identifies them directly, without listing a separate series of vessels or bodily organs. A reader should therefore test the elemental meaning before interpreting the plural as anatomical wombs.

Use in the Book

Elementum provides the book’s separate account of elemental essence. Limbus and Microcosmus relate the great world to the origin and constitution of man. These entries connect generative language at different scales without making every matrix a human body.

Places to Read

Elementum. The elemental domain described through corruption, transience and change.

Limbus. The universal world considered as the human being’s seed and first matter.

Microcosmus. The human being named as a little world.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 32; facsimile PDF page 360 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 360, Matrices rerum

See also. Elementum; Limbus; Microcosmus