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 naming rule by which a qualified liquor can mean an oil.
- In the bookLiquor Mumiæ de gummi is oil of gum, while Liquor essentialis is a humour converted into flesh and blood.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 30; facsimile PDF page 358.
Historical definition
Liquor is often used for an oil when the name of the thing from which it comes is added to it.
Meaning
The compiler gives a rule for reading compounds. Liquor does not always carry the broad everyday meaning liquid: when a material-name accompanies it, it may denote that material’s oil. The qualification often is important, since this is a frequent usage rather than an inflexible definition of every occurrence.
Use in the book
Liquor Mumiæ de gummi is oil of gum, while Liquor essentialis is a humour converted into flesh and blood. The examples show why the added words and the particular definition must control the reading. Treating every Liquor compound as the same kind of fluid would miss the book’s stated variation.
Places to read
- LiquorRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- Liquor essentialisAn assimilable humour described through its becoming flesh and blood.
- Liquor Mumiæ de gummiA Mumia compound whose stated material is gum oil.
- Mandibularum liquorA qualified liquor identified as an oil of bones.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 30; facsimile PDF page 358 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 358, Liquor