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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 DictionaryKachimia

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English Edition · Branch 127 of 740

Kachimia

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 127

Kachimia

Metals minerals and metallic preparations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Metallic ore described as unripe and at its beginning.

In the book. Marcasita likewise denotes unripe metallic matter and is said to have as many kinds as there are metals.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 28; facsimile PDF page 356.

Historical Definition

Kachimia, or Kahimia, is the unripe ore of any metal, as it exists in its first state.

Meaning

Ripeness supplies the interpretive model. The material is metallic in its origin or destination, but has not reached the condition of a completed metal. “Any metal” also makes the term a general category rather than the name of one ore. Its first state is the relevant distinction.

Use in the Book

Marcasita likewise denotes unripe metallic matter and is said to have as many kinds as there are metals. Mercurius Crudus, by contrast, identifies mercury through its remaining unseparated from its ore. The entries distinguish developmental condition from a particular material’s state of preparation.

Places to Read

Marcasita. A varied category of metallic matter understood as unripe.

Mercurius Crudus. Mercury described before separation from its mineral source.

In This Edition

Mine is rendered as ore here because the headword defines the material, not the excavation from which it is taken.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 28; facsimile PDF page 356 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 356, Kachimia

See also. Marcasita; Mercurius Crudus

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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.