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Metals minerals and metallic preparations

Zerus

A short historical name for gold.

From the book

A Chymical Dictionary

Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordA short historical name for gold.
  • In the bookCompare Regale, a cement used to purify gold, and Quartatio, an assay described through gold and silver.
  • A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 48; facsimile PDF page 376.

Historical definition

Zerus is gold.

Meaning

The dictionary supplies a direct metal equivalent. The entry does not specify a particular assay, preparation or philosophical transformation.

Use in the book

Compare Regale, a cement used to purify gold, and Quartatio, an assay described through gold and silver. Those entries add operations that are absent from the bare synonym.

Places to read

  1. ZerusRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
  2. QuartatioA gold assay described through the separation of silver from gold.
  3. RegaleA cement used in the purification of gold.

Source note

Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 48; facsimile PDF page 376 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Zerus; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 376; compare Quartatio, Regale