DiotimosReading Desk

Metals minerals and metallic preparations

Cheiri

A term whose sense depends on both subject matter and qualification.

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 term whose sense depends on both subject matter and qualification.
  • In the bookAnthos supplies a closely related two-domain entry, with rosemary flowers in vegetable contexts and gold’s elixir or quintessence in metallic ones.
  • A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 15; facsimile PDF page 343.

Historical definition

Cheiri, in Paracelsus, when used without qualification, means quicksilver if the subject is minerals, and flowers if it is vegetables. But with a qualification, as in flos Cheiri, it means the white elixir made from silver, just as Flos Anthos means the red elixir.

Meaning

This entry gives a compact reading procedure. First ask whether the passage concerns minerals or vegetables. An unqualified Cheiri can then mean quicksilver or plant flowers respectively. Next ask whether another word qualifies it. The compound flos Cheiri receives a further metallic-elixir explanation. The complete phrase matters at both stages.

The examples show why a simple glossary substitution can fail. Choosing “flower” everywhere would miss the unqualified mineral sense, while choosing quicksilver everywhere would erase the plant use. A qualified flower expression also differs from an ordinary botanical description.

Use in the book

Anthos supplies a closely related two-domain entry, with rosemary flowers in vegetable contexts and gold’s elixir or quintessence in metallic ones. Flos cheiri has its own entry in the dictionary as well. These connections offer a small interpretive network: subject, compound and preparation must be read together. The white/silver and red-elixir distinctions should remain visible, rather than being combined under a generic elixir name.

Places to read

  1. CheiriRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
  2. AnthosA term whose sense changes between vegetable and metallic contexts.
  3. Flos cheiriA name for an essence associated with gold.
  4. ElixirA transformative ferment, or a thing’s essence.

Source note

Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 15; facsimile PDF page 343 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Cheiri ; compare Anthos, Flos cheiri, Elixir, Luna