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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 DictionarySpagiria

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English Edition · Branch 368 of 740

Spagiria

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 368

Spagiria

Operations instruments and practitioners · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A name commonly used for alchemy.

In the book. Spagirus describes a person who distinguishes good from bad and separates pure from impure.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 43; facsimile PDF page 371.

Historical Definition

Spagiria is commonly taken to mean alchemy.

Meaning

Commonly marks a usage rather than an exact account of every possible occurrence. The entry establishes the ordinary equivalence with alchemy and leaves its more particular activity to the neighboring practitioner term.

Use in the Book

Spagirus describes a person who distinguishes good from bad and separates pure from impure. Read together, the two entries supply both a name for the art and a description of the competence associated with its practitioner. Separation is consequently a useful starting point for following this vocabulary.

The dictionary’s alchemical language extends across herbs, animal materials, minerals, medicines and philosophical principles. The general equivalence here does not mean that every named operation aims at making metallic gold. The subject and purpose supplied by each passage remain decisive.

Places to Read

Quintessentia. A purified spiritual matter obtained from living things.

Spagirus. The alchemical practitioner defined through discrimination and separation.

Ysopus. Alchemy described through separation of pure and impure.

In This Edition

The historical spelling is retained as a searchable form. Related English forms can lead to this article, while their connection is treated as an editorial finding aid. No reconstructed derivation is required to understand the usage actually stated in the witness.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 43; facsimile PDF page 371 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Spagiria; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 371; compare Quintessentia, Spagirus, Ysopus

See also. Quintessentia; Spagirus; Ysopus

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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.