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Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · English Edition

Gerhard Dorn and John French

A Chymical Dictionary

An Expanded Diotimos Lexicon of Paracelsian and Alchemical Language

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A Chymical DictionaryAdech

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English Edition · Branch 578 of 740

Adech

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 578

Adech

Mind soul and inward powers · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. The inward person who conceives the forms subsequently fashioned by the outward person.

In the book. Idea, Imaginatio and Formæ rerum provide related vocabulary for representation and form.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 2; facsimile PDF page 330.

Historical Definition

Adech is our inner and invisible person, who represents the forms of all things in our mind; afterward our outward person fashions and imitates them with the hands. Both work according to their nature.

Meaning

This account joins mental representation to making. The inner person presents forms to the mind; the outer person realizes or imitates them through manual work. “Invisible” therefore belongs to a distinction between inward and outward activity. The definition does not describe a small anatomical being hidden inside the body.

For a reader of technical or philosophical prose, the sequence matters: a form is mentally present before its outward imitation is fashioned. The final sentence also assigns a nature to both participants. It does not say that thought alone produces a finished material object.

Use in the Book

Idea, Imaginatio and Formæ rerum provide related vocabulary for representation and form. They should be compared without making them automatic synonyms for Adech. Adech names a figure or agent in this account, whereas the other terms may name an activity or what that activity apprehends.

Places to Read

Idea. A conceived figure understood as an enduring pattern.

Imaginatio. Imagination described through human, celestial and supercelestial relations.

Formæ rerum. Forms explained through received celestial influences or active virtues.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 2; facsimile PDF page 330 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Adech ; compare Idea, Imaginatio, Formæ rerum

See also. Idea; Imaginatio; Formæ rerum

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About This Reading Edition

The complete 706 historical definitions of the 1650 English dictionary, modernised and accompanied by expanded Diotimos commentary, reading routes, 15 textual notes and complete linked indexes.

Historical Text

A Chymicall Dictionary, London 1650, English version associated with John French, based on Gerhard Dorn’s Dictionarium Theophrasti Paracelsi. The containing volume also prints Sendivogius and Paracelsus; neither neighboring work changes this dictionary’s attribution.

About This Edition

Complete 706 definition paragraphs with new introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes; Diotimos Editions, 2026.

Rights

The historical 1650 English text is in the public domain. New introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and published with the site owner’s authorization.