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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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English Edition · Branch 480 of 740

Contractio

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 480

Contractio

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Weakness accompanied by a drawing together of bodily members.

In the book. Contorsio locates torment in the bowels; Contractio describes a different combination of weakness and drawing together.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345.

Historical Definition

Contractio is a weakness of the members and a drawing of them together.

Meaning

The historical definition joins weakness to contraction rather than offering contraction as an isolated motion. “Members” is a general bodily term here. Nothing in the entry limits it to one limb or assigns a particular cause.

Use in the Book

Contorsio locates torment in the bowels; Contractio describes a different combination of weakness and drawing together. Preserving those distinctions helps readers avoid assigning one modern condition to several short historical labels merely because their sounds or symptoms seem related.

Places to Read

Contorsio. Severe suffering located in the bowels.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345 — Facsimile

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

See also. Contorsio

480

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.