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 bodily condition described as complete consumption or wasting.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 7; facsimile PDF page 335.
Historical definition
Aridura is the total wasting away of the body and its parts.
Meaning
The word “consumption” in the historical wording concerns wasting away. It should not automatically be replaced by the name of a particular modern disease. The entry’s emphasis is extent: the whole body and its parts are involved. It supplies no cause, symptom sequence or therapeutic preparation.
In medical prose, this term may therefore describe a condition or outcome rather than identify an agent producing it. Keeping that distinction visible helps a reader follow an argument about bodily decline without adding a diagnosis that the source has not made.
Places to read
- AriduraRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 7; facsimile PDF page 335 — Facsimile