Aphorismus

Language number and measures · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A medical rule treated as an accepted starting point.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 5; facsimile PDF page 333.

Historical Definition

Aphorismus is a general rule in medicine, taken for granted.

Meaning

This entry classifies a kind of statement rather than a substance. “General” gives the rule a wider application, while “taken for granted” describes its assumed status within an argument. A historical writer may therefore use an aphorism as something from which to reason rather than something newly demonstrated in the passage.

Recognizing that role can clarify the structure of a difficult text: distinguish the stated rule from the particular case offered beneath it. The dictionary does not identify every such accepted rule as correct; it explains how the term functions in medical discourse.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 5; facsimile PDF page 333 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Aphorismus