Words · Meanings · Passages
Lexicon
Terms from the books in the Diotimos library, with definitions, translation notes, and links to their passages.
4,850 entries across 24 collectionsTerms beginning with L
37–72 of 128
Leisure
Scholē is leisure or available time, ascholia its absence or being occupied, and scholazein to be at leisure.
Theages · The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II+3 books
Length
Mēkos is length, one of the dimensions used to characterize magnitude.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Lenitive
Lenitive means easing or soothing.
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Letter and spirit
The bare letter is wording taken without the natural sense that should govern it.
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Letter and written character
Gramma is a written character or letter and, in broader uses, something written.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Letters and correspondence
A letter can carry words, remembered company, or actual fragments of the countryside.
The Green Notebook · René
Liber Saturni
The Book of Saturn is quoted as an authority on who can read philosophical books and how.
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Liberty
Liberty is the power to act without coercion.
Centuries of Meditations
Liberty and servitude
Liberty can mean freedom from captivity or another person’s command, permission to act, or the inward capacity to govern oneself.
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Life
Zōē denotes life.
Stobaeus, Volume I · The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II+4 books
Life age and the reckoning of labor
Bios is life as lived, including its course and manner; zēn is to live.
Epinomis
Life-bearing
The compound epithet is translated “life-bearing” or “bringer of life.”
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Life-giving
Zeidōros is rendered “life-giving,” with “grain-giving” recorded as a related sense in the accompanying note.
Empedocles’ Complete Fragments, Volume I
Life, vegetation and the three kingdoms
Life is identified through generation, nourishment, growth, and characteristic operations; the book extends these predicates to metals.
The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I
Ligation and ligature
“Ligation” is binding, and in the account of sleep it means the suspension of sensory activity.
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Light
Phōs is luminous light.
Stobaeus, Volume I · The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II+5 books
Light in transit
Phōs means light; the participle pheromenou presents it as being carried or travelling.
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Light of Nature
The Light of Nature is the intelligibility of created things as Khunrath believes it is disclosed under divine guidance.
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Light, brightness and darkness
Light is called the essence of spirit and the image of purity, incorruptibility and blessed life.
The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I
Light, spirit and the unseen source
Lumen and lux both denote light in this sequence; their local physical or spiritual reference matters more than a rigid two-word system.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Lightness
Kouphotēs is lightness and kouphos means light, opposed to heavy.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Lightning
Astrapē is lightning, lampsis a flash or shining, and the initial mechanism is a falling of light into a cloud.
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Lightning and thunderbolt
Astrapē is lightning; keraunos is a thunderbolt.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Like and unlike
Anomoios means unlike; dissimilar.
Lysis · Empedocles’ Complete Fragments, Volume I
Like perceives like
“Like perceives like” is a compact explanatory heading for B109’s paired formulation: earth by earth, water by water, aither by aither, fire by fire, love by love, and strife by strife.
Empedocles’ Complete Fragments, Volume I · Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Lilium
Lilium, the Lily, is cited as a speaking authority at pp. 147–148: if God found a faithful heart, he would reveal this Art to it.
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Limb
Kōlon is a limb or bodily member.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Limb and bodily member
Melos can mean a bodily member as well as a musical phrase or song.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Lime-twig
The lime-twig figure associates certain opponents with trapping birds.
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Limit
Peras denotes limit or boundary.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Limit and boundary
Limites and bornes can be physical boundaries, limits of competence, or constraints upon action.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Limit and definition
Horos can mark a boundary or delimit what something is in a definition.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Limits of similitude
A likeness is not an identity.
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Limner and pencil
A limner is a painter or delineator.
Centuries of Meditations
Line
Grammē is a line, treated in geometrical discussions as distinct from a surface and a solid body.
Stobaeus, Volume I · Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Lineland
Lineland is Abbott's name for a world confined to a single straight line.
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Books in the Lexicon
October 2026
Plato’s Alcibiades I Lexicon
Alcibiades I · Plato
176 entries · 701 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Alcibiades II Lexicon
Alcibiades II · Plato
94 entries · 290 subsidiary terms
Diotimos Editions · 2026
Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry Lexicon
Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry · R. Swinburne Clymer
131 entries · 495 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Traherne Lexicon
Centuries of Meditations · Thomas Traherne
471 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Charmides Lexicon
Charmides · Plato
173 entries · 777 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Empedocles Lexicon
Empedocles, Volumes I–II · Empedocles of Acragas
490 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Epinomis Lexicon
Epinomis · Plato
77 entries · 1,061 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Flatland Literary Lexicon
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions · Edwin A. Abbott
85 entries · 476 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Khunrath Lexicon
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum · Heinrich Khunrath
326 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Hipparchus Lexicon
Hipparchus · Plato
90 entries · 291 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Baudelaire Literary Lexicon
Intimate Journals · Charles Baudelaire
80 entries · 323 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Lysis Lexicon
Lysis · Plato
239 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I Lexicon
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I · Marsilio Ficino
231 entries · 1,313 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II Lexicon
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II · Marsilio Ficino
148 entries · 1,398 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Minos Lexicon
Minos · Plato
54 entries · 506 subsidiary terms
October 2026
René Literary Lexicon
René · François-René de Chateaubriand
81 entries · 275 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Stobaeus Lexicon
Stobaeus, Volume I · John Stobaeus
610 entries · 85 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy Lexicon
The Anatomy of Melancholy · Robert Burton
295 entries · 6,097 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Guérin Lexicon
The Green Notebook · Maurice de Guérin
165 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
Diotimos Editions · 2026
The Kybalion Lexicon
The Kybalion · Three Initiates
92 entries · 347 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Lovers Lexicon
The Lovers · Plato
83 entries · 361 subsidiary terms
Diotimos Editions · 2026
The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I Lexicon
The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I · Attributed to Abraham the Jew
138 entries · 541 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Joubert Lexicon
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II · Joseph Joubert
459 entries · 110 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Theages Lexicon
Theages · Plato
62 entries · 510 subsidiary terms