A Chymical Dictionary

Inclinatio

Qualities powers and relations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A natural propensity described as a manifestation of power.

In the book. Formæ rerum can mean the virtues of things, while Imaginatio is described through a star within a person.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 27; facsimile PDF page 355.

Historical Definition

Inclinatio is a power of Nature manifested in a human being through a propensity towards one thing or another.

Meaning

The definition moves from an attributed power to its manifestation as a person’s tendency or propensity. The direction of the tendency is left open: this or that thing. The entry therefore concerns the relation between Nature and inclination, rather than a list of particular human dispositions.

“Power” is retained because the compiler treats inclination as an expression of efficacy, not merely as a neutral name for an observed preference. The definition gives no rule for judging a person’s character from a single tendency.

Use in the Book

Formæ rerum can mean the virtues of things, while Imaginatio is described through a star within a person. Idea concerns a conceived figure or pattern. These comparisons place inclination within a broader vocabulary of human powers without declaring it identical with imagination or every other manifestation of Nature.

Places to Read

Formæ rerum. Forms explained through received celestial influences or active virtues.

Idea. A conceived figure understood as an enduring pattern.

Imaginatio. Imagination described through human, celestial and supercelestial relations.

In This Edition

The modernised definition clarifies the old phrase “prone to this or that” while preserving its open scope. It adds no deterministic account of personality or unmentioned astrological classification.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 27; facsimile PDF page 355 — Facsimile

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

See also. Formæ rerum; Idea; Imaginatio