Complexio

Qualities powers and relations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. The constitution of a part described through its qualities.

In the book. Qualitas supplies the complementary list hot, cold, dry and moist, tied to the predominance of an element.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345.

Historical Definition

Complexio is the nature of any part, or its quality of heat, cold, and the like.

Meaning

“Complexion” here means a nature or constitution, rather than the everyday description of the colour of someone’s face. The entry applies it to any part and illustrates its qualities through heat and cold. It therefore gives the reader a way to discuss how something is constituted or acts within the book’s natural philosophy.

The phrase “and the like” leaves the list open. It should not be expanded into a detailed system beyond the qualities stated elsewhere in the dictionary. Nor do heat and cold become measured temperatures merely because the words remain familiar.

Use in the Book

Qualitas supplies the complementary list hot, cold, dry and moist, tied to the predominance of an element. Temperatum describes a condition in which no quality exceeds its measure. Diameter Spagiricus gives temperament as another short classification. These entries explain one another through relations of balance, predominance and constitution.

Places to Read

Diameter Spagiricus. A spagyrical term glossed as temperament.

Qualitas. The balance of hot, cold, dry and moist qualities.

Temperatum. A balanced condition without excess in a quality.

In This Edition

The modernised definition keeps both “nature” and “quality.” Choosing only one would flatten a deliberate pair in the historical explanation.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Complexio

See also. Diameter Spagiricus; Qualitas; Temperatum