A Chymical Dictionary

Physiognomy

Spirits celestial influences and signs · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. An art of reading character from the face.

In the book. The article identifies what the historical art claims to do.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 38; facsimile PDF page 366.

Historical Definition

Physiognomy is an art by which people’s natures and dispositions are perceived through their faces.

Meaning

Conditions is rendered as dispositions in this account of people’s natures. The definition attributes an interpretive relation between facial appearance and inward character.

Use in the Book

The article identifies what the historical art claims to do. It does not provide a rule for judging any particular face or establish the reliability of such a judgment.

Chiromancy, in the Paracelsian usage reported here, extends beyond the hand to the whole body and beyond human beings to natural things. The comparison is useful for scope: Physiognomy in this entry specifically concerns what is perceived through the face.

Places to Read

Præsagium. A significant sign understood as pointing toward a future event.

Pyromancy. Divination through the signs of fire.

Chiromancy. A reading of bodily and natural forms extending beyond the hand.

In This Edition

The distinction between outward sign and inferred nature is central to the meaning. The entry should be read beside other sign practices with attention to the different object each claims to disclose.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 38; facsimile PDF page 366 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Physiognomy; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 366; compare Præsagium, Pyromancy, Chiromancy

See also. Præsagium; Pyromancy; Chiromancy