DiotimosReading Desk

Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · English Edition

Gerhard Dorn and John French

A Chymical Dictionary

An Expanded Diotimos Lexicon of Paracelsian and Alchemical Language

Explore the Lexicon
A Chymical DictionaryCarena

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

English Edition · Branch 711 of 740

Carena

Book Mode

A Chymical Dictionary

p. 711

Carena

Language number and measures · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A small measure expressed as a fraction of a drop.

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

Historical Definition

Carena is the twentieth part of a drop.

Meaning

The definition gives a relative measure: one drop divided into twenty parts. It does not state the size of the original drop or identify a modern unit of volume. A conversion to a fixed number of millilitres would therefore require information not supplied by the dictionary.

Karena provides a related spelling in the inventory. Such variants should be linked so a reader can recognize the measure in different passages. For historical interpretation, preserve both the fraction and its unit rather than rounding it to a familiar modern dose.

Places to Read

Karena. A minute quantity measured as a fraction of a drop.

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

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Carena ; compare Karena

See also. Karena

711

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.