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Contractio
Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary
At a Glance
The word. Weakness accompanied by a drawing together of bodily members.
In the book. Contorsio locates torment in the bowels; Contractio describes a different combination of weakness and drawing together.
A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345.
Historical Definition
Contractio is a weakness of the members and a drawing of them together.
Meaning
The historical definition joins weakness to contraction rather than offering contraction as an isolated motion. “Members” is a general bodily term here. Nothing in the entry limits it to one limb or assigns a particular cause.
Use in the Book
Contorsio locates torment in the bowels; Contractio describes a different combination of weakness and drawing together. Preserving those distinctions helps readers avoid assigning one modern condition to several short historical labels merely because their sounds or symptoms seem related.
Places to Read
Contorsio. Severe suffering located in the bowels.
Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Contractio
See also. Contorsio