From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordA metal term whose referent must be established from context.
- In the bookThe entry is especially valuable beside the dictionary’s planetary metal names: Sol and Luna terminology can make an identification seem familiar, while Æs deliberately remains wider.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 2; facsimile PDF page 330.
Historical definition
Æs does not always mean copper, but sometimes gold, silver, or another metal that is pure and generated by itself, without the mixture of another metal or stone. From some such metal people formerly made and coined money.
Meaning
The first sentence is an explicit warning against mechanical substitution. Although copper is one permitted meaning, the entry also admits gold, silver and other pure metals. Purity here is described by the absence of admixture with another metal or stone, together with an account of independent generation. These are the dictionary’s criteria, not a modern assay specification.
The reference to coinage supplies a field of use rather than a unique identification. Several metals can be coined, and the sentence leaves its particular metal unspecified. In a passage about Æs, inspect the operations, colour descriptions and named companions before deciding which metal the writer intends.
Use in the book
The entry is especially valuable beside the dictionary’s planetary metal names: Sol and Luna terminology can make an identification seem familiar, while Æs deliberately remains wider. Its meaning cannot be settled by modern spelling resemblance alone.
Places to read
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 2; facsimile PDF page 330 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Æs ; compare Luna, Chrysos