From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAn evaluative name for people judged slow of understanding.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342.
Historical definition
Cedurini are dull-witted people.
Meaning
This is a judgement about people, not a material ingredient or an illness defined by symptoms. Its usefulness lies in recognizing the polemical or evaluative register of a sentence. A writer who applies it is characterizing someone’s understanding rather than supplying a technical diagnosis.
The dictionary includes many such person-names beside substance entries. Identifying that grammatical role can remove an apparent mystery before the reader searches for a chemical equivalent. The edition retains the meaning while attributing the evaluation to the historical speaker.
Places to read
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Cedurini ; compare Idiotæ, Sophistæ