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 spagyrical term glossed as temperament.
- In the bookComplexio describes the nature of a part through qualities such as heat and cold.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 19; facsimile PDF page 347.
Historical definition
Diameter Spagiricus is a temperament.
Meaning
The compiler supplies a concept of constitution rather than a geometrical measurement. The familiar word diameter should therefore not lead the reader to look for a line or dimension in this particular use. The definition gives temperament and no further qualification.
Use in the book
Complexio describes the nature of a part through qualities such as heat and cold. Qualitas explains a complexion through hot, cold, dry and moist. Those entries provide a useful interpretive setting for temperament, without authorising a more specific mixture or balance under Diameter Spagiricus itself.
Places to read
- Diameter SpagiricusRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- ComplexioThe constitution of a part described through its qualities.
- QualitasThe balance of hot, cold, dry and moist qualities.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 19; facsimile PDF page 347 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Diameter Spagiricus