DiotimosReading Desk

Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · English Edition

Gerhard Dorn and John French

A Chymical Dictionary

An Expanded Diotimos Lexicon of Paracelsian and Alchemical Language

Explore the Lexicon
A Chymical DictionaryDiaphoreticum

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

English Edition · Branch 485 of 740

Diaphoreticum

Book Mode

A Chymical Dictionary

p. 485

Diaphoreticum

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A medicine classified by its reported production of sweat.

In the book. Anodyna and Mitigativa illustrate other effect-based medical classes, associated respectively with sleep and the allaying of pain.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 19; facsimile PDF page 347.

Historical Definition

Diaphoreticum is a sweating medicine.

Meaning

The defining feature is a bodily effect, not an ingredient. The entry places the medicine in a class through sweating, without naming the preparation or stating which condition it is meant to address.

Use in the Book

Anodyna and Mitigativa illustrate other effect-based medical classes, associated respectively with sleep and the allaying of pain. The comparison helps readers understand the organisation of the vocabulary: a remedy can be named by a reported action without the dictionary telling us its composition or establishing its efficacy.

Places to Read

Anodyna. A class of medicines grouped by their intended sleep-producing effect.

Mitigativa. A class of surgical medicines defined by easing pain.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 19; facsimile PDF page 347 — Facsimile

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

See also. Anodyna; Mitigativa

485

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.