A Chymical Dictionary

Chaos

Elements principles and the natural world · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A term ranging from unformed matter to air and first-matter vocabulary.

In the book. The first Iliaster entry adds another useful distinction: it describes chaoses of earth, water, air and fire.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342.

Historical Definition

Chaos, besides meaning the confused and unshaped matter of all things, is used by Paracelsus for air; it is also used for Illiaste or Illiastro.

Meaning

The definition expressly records several senses. One concerns confused and unshaped matter generally. Another, attributed to Paracelsus, identifies air. A further use points to Illiaste or Illiastro. A reader should preserve the distinctions rather than decide that every historical Chaos means the same universal substance.

The difference between a general state and a particular element is substantial. A passage describing air as the setting or source of an event may not be making the same claim as one describing the unformed origin of all things. The name alone cannot choose between them.

Use in the Book

The first Iliaster entry adds another useful distinction: it describes chaoses of earth, water, air and fire. This places chaos language within a differentiated elemental account. Compare Mysterium magnum for the broader first-matter identification. These links make the semantic range easier to navigate without forcing all the related terms into one definition.

Places to Read

Iliaster. First matter organised through three principles, four elements and a further human fourfold account.

Mysterium magnum. A universal first matter, rather than one particular prepared subject.

Elementum. The elemental domain described through corruption, transience and change.

In This Edition

When translating a passage, collect the words governing Chaos: a location, a material, a stage of formation or a first origin. Those relations can indicate which dictionary sense is active. Where the passage remains ambiguous, retaining the historical name with a note is preferable to inventing a precise modern equivalent.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Chaos ; compare Iliaster (first matter), Mysterium magnum, Elementum

See also. Iliaster; Mysterium magnum; Elementum