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 composition described through first matter and three principles.
- In the bookIlech primum receives the shorter gloss first principle.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 26; facsimile PDF page 354.
Historical definition
Ilech crudum is a composition of the first matter of the three first principles.
Meaning
The phrase connects a composition with first matter and with three first principles. The entry does not name the principles in this sentence, but the dictionary’s Iliaster definition explicitly lists Sulphur, Mercury and Salt. That parallel supplies an internal guide to the terminology.
“Composition” should remain visible. The text is speaking about a relation of constituent principles, rather than simply using Ilech crudum as another unqualified name for any first matter.
Use in the book
Ilech primum receives the shorter gloss first principle. Ilech magnum concerns a medicine’s ascendant or star, while Iliaster introduces a fourfold account alongside the three principles. Keeping these definitions distinct allows the reader to follow the change in scale and qualification across related names.
Places to read
- Ilech crudumRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- Ilech magnumA medicine’s hidden star explained through a higher and lower correspondence.
- Ilech primumA term glossed as the first principle.
- IliasterFirst matter organised through three principles, four elements and a further human fourfold account.
In this edition
The modernised definition retains the compressed historical construction. It does not impose a modern list of chemical ingredients upon the three principles.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 26; facsimile PDF page 354 — Facsimile