From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe inward person who conceives the forms subsequently fashioned by the outward person.
- In the bookIdea, Imaginatio and Formæ rerum provide related vocabulary for representation and form.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 2; facsimile PDF page 330.
Historical definition
Adech is our inner and invisible person, who represents the forms of all things in our mind; afterward our outward person fashions and imitates them with the hands. Both work according to their nature.
Meaning
This account joins mental representation to making. The inner person presents forms to the mind; the outer person realizes or imitates them through manual work. “Invisible” therefore belongs to a distinction between inward and outward activity. The definition does not describe a small anatomical being hidden inside the body.
For a reader of technical or philosophical prose, the sequence matters: a form is mentally present before its outward imitation is fashioned. The final sentence also assigns a nature to both participants. It does not say that thought alone produces a finished material object.
Use in the book
Idea, Imaginatio and Formæ rerum provide related vocabulary for representation and form. They should be compared without making them automatic synonyms for Adech. Adech names a figure or agent in this account, whereas the other terms may name an activity or what that activity apprehends.
Places to read
- AdechRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- IdeaA conceived figure understood as an enduring pattern.
- ImaginatioImagination described through human, celestial and supercelestial relations.
- Formæ rerumForms explained through received celestial influences or active virtues.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 2; facsimile PDF page 330 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Adech ; compare Idea, Imaginatio, Formæ rerum