From the book
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAqua vitae, literally water of life, denotes distilled alcoholic spirit.
- In the Anatomy of MelancholyA fearful sufferer carries biscuit, aqua vitae or strong waters against anticipated fainting or sickness.
- In this edition“Aquavitæ” becomes “aqua vitae” and “strong waters” becomes “strong spirits”.
- A place to readSurrounding argument or qualification for the cited medicinal use.
Meaning
Aqua vitae, literally water of life, denotes distilled alcoholic spirit. Burton’s forms include “Aquavitæ” and “Aqua vitæ”, while English “water of life” names the same kind of liquid. “strong waters” has that sense beside aqua vitae in the symptom passage. The superficially similar singular “strong water” can instead mean a potent medicinal liquid whose alcoholic identity is not established.
Use in the book
A fearful sufferer carries biscuit, aqua vitae or strong waters against anticipated fainting or sickness. The scene moves between an enclosed room and a crowd from which escape seems difficult, even though the person may physically be at ease. The preparation belongs to his precautionary behaviour; Burton does not describe it curing an actual faint.
In the compounds catalogue, Evonimus has a valuable aqua vitae for people of cold constitution. The preceding praise of other compound waters excludes inflamed melancholy or excessive bodily heat. The passage therefore supplies a constitution-dependent historical use rather than a general endorsement of spirits.
Water of life also appears in a plaster formula. Here it is an ingredient of an external preparation, distinct from a spirit carried for an anticipated need. No ordinary water sense fits that phrase, and the formula is cited only for vocabulary rather than reproduced as a usable remedy.
The Venetian empiric’s strong water introduces a necessary limit to the comparison. Hercules de Saxonia reports a secret potent preparation repeatedly used for head melancholy to purge through the mouth and nostrils, valued so highly that the empiric will not sell it for gold. Its force and secrecy are stated; its identity as drinking alcohol is not.
Related entries
Spirits: Distilled spirits must be distinguished from the subtle bodily spirits of physiology.
Places to read
- Subsection 2. Symptoms or Signs in the Mind · paragraph 32Surrounding argument or qualification for the cited medicinal use.
- Subsection 2. Symptoms or Signs in the Mind · paragraph 33A sufferer carries it against feared fainting or illness in confined places or crowds.
- Subsection 2. Symptoms or Signs in the Mind · paragraph 34Surrounding argument or qualification for the cited medicinal use.
- Subsection 5 Compound Alteratives Criticism of Compounds and Mixed Medicines · paragraph 23Surrounding argument or qualification for the cited medicinal use.
- Subsection 5 Compound Alteratives Criticism of Compounds and Mixed Medicines · paragraph 24Evonimus’s named preparation is commended only for a cold constitution, after restrictions concerning inflamed melancholy and excessive heat.
- Subsection 5 Compound Alteratives Criticism of Compounds and Mixed Medicines · paragraph 25Surrounding argument or qualification for the cited medicinal use.
- Subsection 4 Remedies That Divert the Humours · paragraph 5Surrounding argument or qualification for the cited medicinal use.
- Subsection 4 Remedies That Divert the Humours · paragraph 6A Venetian empiric’s secret liquid is reported as repeatedly used for head melancholy, purging through mouth and nostrils.
- Subsection 4 Remedies That Divert the Humours · paragraph 7Surrounding argument or qualification for the cited medicinal use.
- Subsection 6 Remedies for Accompanying Symptoms: To Bring Sleep, and Against… · paragraph 46Surrounding argument or qualification for the cited medicinal use.
- Subsection 6 Remedies for Accompanying Symptoms: To Bring Sleep, and Against… · paragraph 47It is a liquid ingredient of a historical externally applied plaster.
- Subsection 6 Remedies for Accompanying Symptoms: To Bring Sleep, and Against… · paragraph 48Surrounding argument or qualification for the cited medicinal use.
In this edition
“Aquavitæ” becomes “aqua vitae” and “strong waters” becomes “strong spirits”. “water of life” becomes “distilled spirit” in the plaster passage. These locally checked renderings preserve one distilled-spirit vocabulary across different uses.
By contrast, “a strong water” becomes “a powerful medicinal water” in the empiric’s case. The note explicitly leaves it broader than ordinary drinking alcohol. In the compound-water passage, the modern wording retains aqua vitae and specifies the cold constitution; the attached c margin’s compressed negative construction is not silently made identical to the English body.
aqua vitae · Aquavitæ
Printed “Aquavitæ” (Latin; phrase).
Distilled alcoholic spirit; literally water of life.
Here: A sufferer carries it against feared fainting or illness in confined places or crowds.
Context: Burton describes the sufferer’s anticipatory precautions, not an actual fainting event or a prescribed remedy.
Source: original body
Source wording and original alignment: Aquavitæ
Modern rendering: aqua vitae
Word and construction: The indexed form names or supplies distilled alcoholic spirit; literally water of life in this expression.
Alignment conventions: Alignment convention.
aqua vitae · Aqua vitæ
Printed “Aqua vitæ” (English and Latin; phrase).
A distilled spirit used as a medicinal preparation.
Here: Evonimus’s named preparation is commended only for a cold constitution, after restrictions concerning inflamed melancholy and excessive heat.
Context: Burton reports Evonimus and the preceding authorities; the body and c margin have a qualified grammatical difference which the edition retains.
Source: original body
Source wording and original alignment: a pretious Aqua vitæ to this purpose, for such as are cold
Modern rendering: a valuable aqua vitae for this purpose, for those of a cold constitution
Word and construction: The indexed form names or supplies a distilled spirit used as a medicinal preparation in this expression.
Alignment conventions: Alignment convention.
strong water
Printed “strong water” (English; phrase).
A potent liquid medicinal preparation.
Here: A Venetian empiric’s secret liquid is reported as repeatedly used for head melancholy, purging through mouth and nostrils.
Context: Hercules de Saxonia’s report, retold by Burton; the text does not establish that this preparation is ordinary drinking alcohol.
Source: original body
Source wording and original alignment: a strong water
Modern rendering: a powerful medicinal water
Word and construction: The indexed form names or supplies a potent liquid medicinal preparation in this expression.
Alignment conventions: Alignment convention.
strong waters
Printed “strong waters” (English; phrase).
Distilled alcoholic spirits.
Here: The phrase accompanies aqua vitae among things carried against anticipated illness.
Context: Burton’s description of fear-driven provision; the plural does not identify a specific formula.
Source: original body
Source wording and original alignment: strong waters
Modern rendering: strong spirits
Word and construction: The indexed form names or supplies distilled alcoholic spirits in this expression.
Alignment conventions: Alignment convention.
water of life
Printed “water of life” (English; phrase).
Aqua vitae: distilled alcoholic spirit.
Here: It is a liquid ingredient of a historical externally applied plaster.
Context: Burton’s historical formula; this lexical record does not repeat its quantities, production steps or application instructions.
Source: original body
Source wording and original alignment: water of life
Modern rendering: distilled spirit
Word and construction: The indexed form names or supplies aqua vitae: distilled alcoholic spirit in this expression.
Alignment conventions: Alignment convention.