Jupiter

From Latin Iūpiter (“father Jove”), from Proto-Italic *djous patēr (literally “sky father”) (cognate with Ancient Greek Ζεῦ πάτερ (Zeû páter, “father Zeus”)), from *djous (“day, sky”) + *patēr (“father”), from Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws (literally “the bright one”), from *dyew- (“to be bright, day sky”), and *ph₂tḗr (“father”). Doublet of Dyaus Pita.


air

en-noun

air (countable and uncountable, plural airs)

→ Jersey Dutch: êr

From Middle English aire, from Old French air, from Latin āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr). Displaced native Old English lyft. More at lift, loft.

хӏауа

mixture of gases making up the atmosphere of the Earth

luftrener

air conditioner or the processed air it produces

ayr

especially when referring to the form of music

(uncountable) The substance constituting Earth's atmosphere, a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and various trace gases.

(historical, philosophy, alchemy) One of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans.


earth

earth (countable and uncountable, plural earths)

From Middle English erthe, from Old English eorþe, from Proto-West Germanic *erþu, from Proto-Germanic *erþō (“dirt, ground, earth”) (compare West Frisian ierde, Low German Eerd, Dutch aarde, Dutch Low Saxon eerde, German Erde, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian jord), related to *erwô (“earth”) (compare Old High German ero, perhaps Old Norse jǫrfi), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁er- (compare Ancient Greek *ἔρα, “earth” (*éra, “earth”) in ἔραζε (éraze, “to the ground, to earth”), perhaps Tocharian B yare (“gravel”).
Probably unrelated, and of unknown etymology, is Old Armenian երկիր (erkir, “earth”). Likewise, the phonologically similar Proto-Semitic *ʔarṣ́- – whence Arabic أَرْض (ʔarḍ), Hebrew אֶרֶץ (ʾereṣ) – is probably not related.

cog

earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust

(alchemy, philosophy and Taoism) The aforementioned soil- or rock-based material, considered one of the four or five classical elements.


control

en-noun

control (countable and uncountable, plural controls)

From Middle English controllen, from Old French contrerole, from Medieval Latin contrārotulum (“a counter-roll or register used to verify accounts”), from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”) + Medieval Latin rotulus, Latin rotula (“roll, a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”).

der

"Ah, who are they? I wonder. Guides, controls, psychic entities of some kind. Who the agents of vengeance - or I should say justice - are, is really not essential."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(spiritualism, parapsychology) A spirit that takes possession of a psychic or medium and allows other spirits to communicate with the living.


fire

en-noun

fire (countable and uncountable, plural fires)

→ Japanese: ファイヤー (faiyā)

Sranan Tongo: faya

From Middle English fyr, from Old English fȳr (“fire”), from Proto-West Germanic *fuir, from *fuïr, a regularised form of Proto-Germanic *fōr (“fire”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥.
See also Saterland Frisian Fjuur, West Frisian fjoer, Dutch vuur, Low German Füer, German Feuer, Danish fyr. Also, compare Hittite 𒉺𒄴𒄯 (paḫḫur), Umbrian pir, Tocharian A/B por/puwar, Czech pýř (“hot ashes”), Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr, “fire”), and Armenian հուր (hur, “fire”). This was an inanimate noun whose animate counterpart was Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥gʷnis (see ignite). Cognate to pyre.

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

there may be snow on the mountaintop but there's fire in the valley

there may be snow on the rooftop but there is fire in the furnace

you don't look at the mantelpiece when you poke the fire

you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire

(uncountable, alchemy, philosophy) The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.


wind

wind (countable and uncountable, plural winds)

Tok Pisin: win

Torres Strait Creole: win

From Middle English wynd, wind, from Old English wind (“wind”), from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥tos (“wind”), from earlier *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“wind”), derived from the present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Cognates
Cognate with Dutch wind, German Wind, West Frisian wyn, Norwegian and Swedish vind, Icelandic vindur, Latin ventus, Welsh gwynt, Sanskrit वात (vā́ta), Russian ве́тер (véter), perhaps Albanian bundë (“strong damp wind”). Doublet of athlete, vent, weather and nirvana.

it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good

you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

(philosophy, alchemy) One of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans; air.


astral

en-adj

astral (comparative more astral, superlative most astral)

more astral (comparative)
most astral (superlative)

From Late Latin astralis, from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”).

Coordinate term: spectral

In the case of an inanimate body, […] when the physical object was broken the astral counterpart would also be divided; but it would not be possible to break an astral counterpart, and in that way to affect the physical object. In other words the act of fraction must begin on the physical plane. One could of course move a purely astral object by means of an astral hand if one wished, but not the astral counterpart of a physical object. In order to perform this latter feat it would be necessary to materialize a hand and move the physical object, when the astral counterpart would of course accompany it.

1911, Charles Webster Leadbeater, Theosophical Talks at Adyar, page 194:

"[I could] see her astral form sitting on the edge of her bed. She was waiting for me."

2005 03, Harry Highstreet, The OOBE File, Harry, →ISBN, page 123:

[He could] see her astral projection; she looked like a celestial being, holding her hand out to him. With relief rushing through his body, he called out to her, "I've got you angel, and I'm coming!" Hammering the gas the car took off[…]

2011 October 11, Kristi O'Toole, Under the Moon, PublishAmerica, →ISBN:

[Other actions], such as the moving of solid articles, either by an astral hand projected to draw them towards her, or by using an Elemental; others by reading in the Astral Light, and so on. But the proof of the reality of her mission from those whom she spoke of as Masters lay not in these[…]

2021 January 1, Annie Besant, Annie Besant, An Autobiography: Annie Besant, An Autobiography by Annie Besant: The Autobiography of Annie Besant, Prabhat Prakashan:

(parapsychology, theosophy, fantasy) Composed of ethereal material or non-physical (sometimes supersensible), and capable of sometimes separating from the physical body (as an astral body) to travel to other places or to other realms of existence (in or via the astral plane).

astraalinen

relating to a supposed supersensible substance


astral

Now both of you sit there and wait for any guides to come to you, any astrals or people from that life to make themselves known to you.

2009, David Wells, David Wells's Psychic Secrets, page 112:

(parapsychology) A supernatural being from the astral plane.


lunar

From Middle English lunar (“shaped like the crescent moon”), from Latin lūnāris (“of or pertaining to the moon, lunar”) (possibly through Middle French lunaire (modern French lunaire (“lunar”)), from lūna (“the Moon; crescent shape”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”)) + -is (suffix forming adjectives).

der

On the Poison of Serpents. By W. Boag, Esq. [...] Supposing the fatal effect [of a snakebite] to be produced by the sudden subtraction of oxygen from the blood, this gentleman recommends, by way of antidote, the employment of those substances which contain oxygen in its greatest abundance, and part with it with the greatest facility; and, as lunar caustic [silver nitrate] possesses these properties in a singular degree, he concludes that no medicine is better calculated to resist the effects of the poison of serpents.

1805 April, “Art. V. Asiatic Researches, Vols. VI. and VII. …”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume XLVI, London: Printed by Strahan and Preston, […]; and sold by T[homas] Becket, […], published 1794, →OCLC, page 379:

(alchemy, chemistry, historical) Of or pertaining to silver (which was symbolically associated with the Moon by alchemists).


clairvoyance

en-noun

clairvoyance (usually uncountable, plural clairvoyances)

(parapsychology) The power to see or perceive things objects or events beyond the natural range of the senses, such as the past or the future.

яснови́дство

the power to perceive objects that are not accessible to the senses


psi

psi (countable and uncountable, plural psis)

From Ancient Greek ψεῖ (pseî), the name for the twenty-third letter of the alphabet (Ψ, ψ).

‘Come, lad,’ he said. ‘We will take tea together and speak of the noumenon, the psi and other more heterogenous phenomena.’

When an event is classified as a psi phenomenon, it is claimed that all known channels for the apparent interaction have been eliminated.

1996, Michael F. Stoeber, Hugo Anthony Meynell, Critical Reflections on the Paranormal (page 60)

It traces the growth of homo gestalt with the uniting of six lovely outcasts of society who have psi powers and come together as a hive mind, thus creating a gestalt super-being.

2005, Michael Ashley, Transformations: The History of the Science Fiction Magazine 1950 to 1970, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, page 133:

(uncountable, parapsychology, science fiction) A form of psychic energy.


poltergeist

poltergeist (plural poltergeists or poltergeister)

poltergeists (plural)
poltergeister (plural)

Unadapted borrowing from German Poltergeist, from poltern (“to rumble”) + Geist (“ghost”). Cognate with English boulder and ghost.

ubor

A poltergeist haunts the house by moving objects around, making chain-rattling noises and throwing things.

The chapel is haunted by a demonic poltergeist.

"Perhaps even a small poltergeist might come your way. Any trifle would be welcome." His bull's bellow of laughter followed them into the lift.

(parapsychology) An unseen ghost which makes noises and causes disruption, especially by causing physical objects to move or fly about.


spirit

en-noun

spirit (countable and uncountable, plural spirits)

From Middle English spirit, from Old French espirit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus (“breath; spirit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow, breathe”). Compare inspire, respire, transpire, all ultimately from Latin spīrō (“I breathe, blow, respire”). In this sense, displaced native Middle English gast (from Old English gāst), whence modern English ghost. Doublet of spiritus, spirytus, sprite, spright, and esprit.

doublet

the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

(alchemy, obsolete) Any of the four substances: sulphur, sal ammoniac, quicksilver, and arsenic (or, according to some, orpiment).


Venus

en-noun

Venus (countable and uncountable, plural Venuses)

From Middle English Venus, from Latin Venus.

CRYSTALS of Venus or of copper, called also vitriol of Venus, is copper reduced into the form of vitriol by spirit of nitre, or by dissolving verdegris in good distilled vinegar, till the acid be saturated; it is very caustic and used to eat off proud flesh. It is also used by painters, and manufacturers, and sold under the name of distilled vinegar. See CHEMISTRY.

1807, A New and Complete Encyclopaedia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences: Vol III, page 48:

Another pair of terms which caused some confusion were Spirit of Saturn and Spirit of Venus, names suggesting compounds of lead and copper respectively. Jean Beguin described the preparation from minium and distilled vinegar of a liquid he called burning spirit of Saturn, e cause it was inflammable and he thought it was a compound of lead. Actually the lead takes no part in the reaction and the product of distilling lead acetate is impure acetone. Beguin’s terminology did not go without comment however, for Christopher Glaser later referred to ‘A burning Spirit of Saturn (as it is called) but rather, a Spirit of the Volatile Salt of Vinegar’. Tachenius referred to the product of distillation of copper acetate as ‘pretended spirit of Venus’ because it was really only distilled vinegar - the meaning which Macquer gave to the expression. It is typical of the confusion of terminology in early chemistry that the London Pharmacopoeia of 1721 gave the name Spiritus Veneris to sulphuric acid obtained by the distillation of copper sulphate.

2004, Maurice P. Crosland, Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry, page 89:

The association of the heavenly bodies with known metals and also with human organs and destinies goes back to ancient Chaldea, the land of astrologers. In Chaucer’s words: ‘The seven bodies eek, lo hear anon. Sol gold is, and Luna silver we declare; Mars yron, Mercurie is quyksilver; Saturnian leed; and Jubitur is tyn, and Venus coper, by my fathers kyn.’ […] Corresponding names were bestowed upon salts of these metals by the alchemists, and some of them have persisted down to the present day. Some examples are lunar caustic (silver nitrate); vitriol of Venus (copper sulphate); sugar of Saturn (lead acetate); and vitriol of Mars, or Martial vitriol (ferrous sulphate).

2013, John Read, From Alchemy to Chemistry:

(obsolete, alchemy, chemistry) Copper (a reddish-brown, malleable, ductile metallic element).


Saturn

From Old English Sætern, from Latin Sāturnus, probably from Etruscan 𐌔𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌄 (satre), plausibly influenced by Latin satus, past participle of serere (“to sow”).

(obsolete, alchemy, chemistry) Lead (the metal).


gnome

From French gnome (“gnome”), from New Latin gnomus, used by Paracelsus as a synonym for pygmaeus (“pygmy”).

He adopts the Rosycrusian fancy of Gnomes, spirits which inhabit the earth, and who by their power form the ores of metals, and all the wonders met with in the inmost recesses of the globe.

1811, The Medical and Physical Journal, volume 25, page 138:

Day belongs to the earthlier deities—the stern, the harsh, and the cold. Gnomes are the spirits of daily hours. Toil, thought, and strife, beset us: we have to work, to quarrel, and to struggle: we have to take our neighbours in; or, at least, to avoid their doing so by us.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Success”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 74:

Gnomes are perhaps the most useful of the elementals.
A gnome can carry a person with it as it swims through the soil, provided it is strong enough to lift the person. The gnome cannot, however, provide air for that person[…].

2006, Greg Lynch, RuneQuest Monsters, page 52:

Elementals are the consciousness guiding the four classical elements of earth, fire, air, and water. These elementals are depicted as gnomes, salamanders, diminutive faeries known as sylphs, and merfolk, known as undines, respectively.

2007, Christopher Penczak, Ascension Magick: Ritual, Myth and Healing for the New Aeon, page 413:

(magic, alchemy, Rosicrucianism) An elemental (spirit or corporeal creature associated with a classical element) associated with earth.


od

Borrowed from German Od, arbitrarily coined by the German scientist and philosopher Carl Reichenbach (1788–1869).

nb...

􂀿...􂁀 The Complete Work, from the German Second Edition. With the Addition of a Preface and Critical Notes, by John Ashburner, M.D.

219, Regent Street. Paris: J.-B. Baillière, rue Hautefeuille. New York: H. Baillière.

(pseudoscience, historical, also attributive) A hypothetical force or natural power, which was supposed by Carl Reichenbach and others to inhere in certain people and produce phenomena such as animal magnetism and mesmerism, and to be developed by various agencies, as by chemical or vital action, heat, light, magnets, etc.


urinal

From Middle English urinal, urynal, orynal, from Old French urinal, orinal (“vessel for urination”), from Latin ūrīnālis (“urinary”). Use for plumbing fixtures attested from 1851.

/ˈjʉːəɹɪnəl/

A device or fixture used for urination, particularly:

(historical medicine and alchemy) A glass vial used for examining or storing urine.


philosopher's stone

en-noun

philosopher's stone (countable and uncountable, plural philosopher's stones)

Misconstruction of philosophers' stone, from Middle English philosophres ston, a calque of Latin lapis philosophōrum.

[…] I entered with the greatest diligence into the search of the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life.

1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter I, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 54:

1997, Christopher McIntosh, The Rosicrucians: The History, Mythology, and Rituals of an Esoteric Order, Weiser Books, 3rd Revised Edition, 1998, Paperback, page 51,
The Rosicrucianism of the Andreae era was only partly concerned with alchemy, but later revivals of the Rosicrucian idea were to lay great stress on their claims to possess the secrets of transmutation and the knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone or the Elixir of Life.

The Cleopatra of this early alchemical dialogue is not the famous Cleopatra VII (69-30 BC), last queen of the Ptolemy dynasty and lover of Mark Antony. Along with Mary Prophetess and Zosimos's Theosebia, this Cleopatra occupies a high place in alchemical lore as one of very few ancient female adepts who possessed the secret of the philosopher's stone.

2003, Stanton J. Linden, The Alchemy Reader: From Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton, Cambridge University Press, page 44:

(alchemy, uncountable) A supposed substance able to turn base metals, such as lead or mercury, into gold or silver, also sometimes claimed to cure any illness (as panacea) or confer immortality (as elixir of life), among other functions.

sorcerer's stone

putative substance able to turn base metals into gold


elixir

From Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic اَلْإِكْسِير (al-ʔiksīr), from Ancient Greek ξηρίον (xēríon, “medicinal powder”), from ξηρός (xērós, “dry”).

der

اَلْإِكْسِير

elikser

alchemy: liquid which was believed to turn non-precious metals to gold

For Chinese alchemists, gold held the key to the Elixir, the Eastern equivalent of the Philosopher's Stone.

2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, published 2004, page 59:

(alchemy) A liquid which converts lead to gold.

(alchemy) A substance or liquid which is believed to cure all ills and give eternal life.


elixir of life

(alchemy) A substance which when drunk brings immortality: eternal life, eternal youth.


azoth

From Andalusian Arabic الزُّوق (az-zūq), from Arabic الزَّاوُوق (az-zāwūq, “quicksilver”).

(alchemy) The first principle of metals, that is, mercury, which was formerly supposed to exist in all metals, and to be extractable from them.


phlegm

en-noun

phlegm (usually uncountable, plural phlegms)

From Middle English flewme, fleume, fleme, from Old French fleume, Middle French flemme (French flegme), and their source, Latin phlegma, from Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “flame; inflammation; clammy humor in the body”), from φλέγειν (phlégein, “to burn”). Compare phlox, flagrant, flame, bleak (adjective), fulminate. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots.

der

The attempts made to analyse vegetable substances previous to 1720, merely produced their resolution into the supposed elements of the chemists of those days, namely, salts, Earths, phlegm, and sulphur.

1812, Humphry Davy, The Elements of Chemical Philosophy, Introduction, Part I. Vol. I, pp. 50-51:

(historical, chemistry, alchemy) A watery distillation, especially one obtained from plant matter; an aqueous solution.


physical

Borrowed from Late Latin physicālis, from Latin physica (“study of nature”), from Ancient Greek φυσική (phusikḗ), feminine singular of φυσικός (phusikós, “natural; physical”), from φύσις (phúsis, “origin, birth; nature, quality; form, shape; type, kind”), from φῠ́ω (phúō, “grow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear, become, rise up”).

"I don't mind readings and clairvoyance, but the physicals do try you."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(parapsychology) A physical manifestation of psychic origin, as through ectoplasmic solidification.


telepathy

en-noun

telepathy (usually uncountable, plural telepathies)

Gerwin Schalk and Anthony Ritaccio, at the Albany Medical Center, are working under a multimillion-dollar grant from the U.S. military to design and develop devices that enable soldiers to communicate telepathically. Although this seems like something out of a science fiction story, the Pentagon believes that these so-called telepathy helmets are sufficiently feasible that it is devoting more than $6 million to the project. The target date for completion of the prototype device is 2017.

2013, Al Gore, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 239:

(parapsychology) The capability to communicate directly by psychic means; the sympathetic affection of one mind by the thoughts, feelings, or emotions of another at a distance, without communication through the ordinary channels of sensation.


veil

→ Japanese: ベール (bēru)

→ Korean: 베일 (beil)

From Middle English veil, veyl, from Anglo-Norman and Old Northern French veil (“sail, veil, shroud”) (Francien Old French voil, French voile), Latin vēlum (“cloth, covering”). Displaced Middle English scleire, scleyre, sleyre, slyre (“veil”) (compare German Schleier). Doublet of velum and voile.

der

"I have heard most furious bigots talking through the veil." "So have I, for that matter," said Malone, "and in this very room."

(figurative, parapsychology) That which separates the living and the spirit world.


Jove

From Middle English Joves, from Latin Iuppiter, Iovis, from Proto-Italic *djowe-, ablative case of *djous, from Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws. Doublet of Dyeus and Zeus.


Firſt of all bring Copper with ☿ ſublimate, and fixt Arſenick to bee white, yea as white as ☾, then beat it ſmall.

1650, Paracelsus, “Of the Nature of Things”, in John French, transl., A New Light of Alchymie, page 74:


As a man may return into the womb of his mother, i.e. into the Earth, out of which hee was firſt made a man, and ſhall again bee raiſed at the laſt day: ſo alſo all Metalls may returne into living ☿ againe, and become ☿, and by Fire bee regenerated, and purified, if for the ſpace of forty weeks, they bee kept in a continuall heat, as an infant is in his Mothers wombe.

1650, Paracelsus, “Of the Nature of Things”, in John French, transl., A New Light of Alchymie, page 11:

Then turned I up the Glaſs, and there appeared a thouſand ſparks, like very crude ☿ bright and ſhining, marvelous to ſight

1683, anonymous author, The Practice of Lights: Or an Excellent and Ancient Treatise of the Philosophers Stone, page 29; reprinted in Collectanea Chymica: A Collection of Ten Several Treatises in Chymistry, 1684:


albedo

en-noun

albedo (countable and uncountable, plural albedos or albedoes)

Borrowed from Latin albēdō (“whiteness”).

bor+

(alchemy) One of the four major stages of the magnum opus, involving purification of the prima materia.


helm

From Middle English helm (“helmet; crown of thorns of Jesus; warrior; inn or shop sign”) [and other forms], from Old English helm (“helmet”), from Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (“protective covering”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelmos, from the root *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of heaume and related to helmet.
cognates
* Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐌼𐍃 (hilms)
* Old Frisian helm (West Frisian helm)
* Old High German helm (Middle High German helm, modern German Helm; Italian elmo; Old French helme, modern French heaume; Spanish yelmo)
* Old Norse hjalmr (Danish hjelm, Norwegian hjelm, Swedish hjelm)
* Old Saxon helm (Low German Helm, Middle Dutch helm, modern Dutch helm)

inh

The Dragons teeth, Mercurie ſublimate, / That keepes the vvhiteneſſe, hardneſſe and the biting; / And they are gather’d, into Iaſon’s helme, / (Th’Alembeke) and then ſovv’d in Mars his field, / And, thence, ſublim’d ſo often, till they are fix’d.

1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, →OCLC, Act II, scene i:

(alchemy, chemistry) The upper part or cap of an alembic or retort.


c-decay

c, the symbol used in physics for the speed of light + decay

(creationism, pseudoscience) The discredited theory that the speed of light has decreased over time, proposed by creationists in order to support the belief that the universe is a few thousand years old even though there are objects visible today that are billions of light years away (whereas a constant speed of light would indicate that the universe is billions of years old and so contradict this belief).


aura

en-noun

aura (countable and uncountable, plural aurae or auræ or auras)

aurae (plural)
auræ (plural)
auras (plural)

Borrowed from Latin aura (“a breeze, a breath of air, the air”), from Ancient Greek αὔρα (aúra, “breeze, soft wind”), from ἀήρ (aḗr, “air”). Doublet of east, auster, air, and aria. The slang sense originated in the early 2020s and was popularized on TikTok around May 2024.

der

(parapsychology) An invisible force surrounding a living creature.

аура

an invisible force surrounding a living creature


quintessence

en-noun

quintessence (countable and uncountable, plural quintessences)

PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From Middle English, borrowed from Middle French, from Medieval Latin quinta essentia (“fifth essence, aether”). "Essence" in this context is a synonym for "element". In pre-atomic/Aristotlean theory, there are four known elements or essences — Earth, Air, Fire and Water — and a putative fifth element (aether), which is considered to be of exceptional superior quality to the other four basic elements.

der

(alchemy) The fifth alchemical element, or essence, after earth, air, fire, and water that fills the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere.


psychic

From Ancient Greek ψυχικός (psukhikós, “relative to the soul, spirit, mind”). Earlier referred to as "psychical"; or from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “soul, mind, psyche”). First appeared (as substantive) 1871 and first records 1895.

uder

(parapsychology) A person who supposedly contacts the dead; a medium.


vibration

en-noun

vibration (countable and uncountable, plural vibrations)

From French vibration, from Latin vibrātiō (“a shaking or brandishing”), from vibrō (“shake, vibrate”); see vibrate.
Morphologically vibrate + -ion

der

"And the sitters?" "I expect Professor Challenger may wish to bring a friend or two of his own." "They will form a horrible block of vibrations! We must have some of our own sympathetic people to counteract it."

(parapsychology) A vibrational energy of spiritual nature through which mediumistic and other paranormal phenomena are conveyed or affected.


projection

en-noun

projection (countable and uncountable, plural projections)

/pɹəˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/

From either the Middle French projection or its etymon, the Classical Latin prōiectiō (stem: prōiectiōn-), from prōiciō, equivalent to project + -ion. Compare the Modern French projection, the German Projektion, and the Italian proiezione.

I speak not here of Projection, whereby one part of an Aurifick Powder is said to turn I know not how many 100 or 1000 parts of an ignobler metal into silver or gold […]

1666, Robert Boyle, The Origine of Formes and Qualities […], page 365:

But yet I would that every one should understand me aright, and not count me so simple, as if I did liken or compare my Aurum Potabile with that great Stone of the Philosophers, which transmutes vast quantities of imperfect metals into most pure Gold by projection […]

1689, Johann Rudolf Glauber, translated by Christopher Packe, The Works of the Highly Experienced and Famous Chymist, John Rudolph Glauber […], page 216:

[Helmont] says, on another occasion, that an adept, after a few days of acquaintance, presented him with half a grain of the powder of projection, with which he transmuted nine ounces of quicksilver into pure gold.

1888, Arthur Edward Waite, Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers […], page 167:

(alchemy, obsolete) A supposed mechanism for the transmutation of large quantities of base metals.


aqua fortis

From Latin aqua fortis (literally “strong water”).

bor

(alchemy) A corrosive liquor made of saltpeter, serving as a solvent for dissolving silver and all other metals except gold.

aqua fortis

a corrosive liquor made of saltpeter, serving as a solvent for dissolving silver and all other metals except gold


transmutation

en-noun

transmutation (countable and uncountable, plural transmutations)

Late 14th century, from Old French transmutacion (“transformation, metamorphosis”), from Late Latin transmutationem, from Latin transmutare (“to change”).

გარდაქმნა

the transformation of one element into another

The transmutation of metals was secondary to the main aim, which was the spiritual transformation of the adept.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 261:

(alchemy) Specifically, the supposed transformation of one element into another, especially of a base metal into gold.


xanthosis

en-noun

xanthosis (countable and uncountable, plural xanthoses)


tincture

The noun is derived from Late Middle English tincture (“a dye, pigment; a colour, hue, tint; process of colouring or dyeing; medicinal ointment or salve (perhaps one discolouring the skin); use of a medicinal tincture; (alchemy) transmutation of base metals into gold; ability to cause such transmutation; substance supposed to cause such transmutation”) [and other forms], borrowed from Latin tīnctūra (“act of dyeing”) + Middle English -ure (suffix indicating an action or a process and the means or result of that action or process). Tīnctūra is derived from tīnctus (“coloured, tinged; dipped in; impregnated with; treated”) + -tūra (suffix forming action nouns expressing activities or results); while tīnctus is the perfect passive participle of tingō (“to colour, dye, tinge; to dip (in), immerse; to impregnate (with); to moisten, wet; to smear”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to dip; to soak”). Doublet of teinture and tinctura.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

For vvhat is ſilke but eu'n a Quinteſſence, / Made vvithout hands beyond al humane ſenſe? / A quinteſſence? nay vvel it may be call'd, / A deathleſſe tincture, ſent vs from the skies, / VVhoſe colour ſtands, vvhose gloſſe is ne're appalld, […]

1599, T[homas] M[offett], The Silkewormes, and Their Flies: […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Nicholas Ling, […], →OCLC, pages 67–68:

An immaterial substance or spiritual principle which was thought capable of being instilled into physical things; also, the essence or spirit of something.

[T]he pureſt part [of the sap], as moſt apt and ready, recedes, vvith its due Tinctures, from the ſaid Cortical Body, to the Lignous. VVhich Lignous Body likevviſe ſuper-inducing its ovvn proper Tinctures into the ſaid Sap; […]

1671 December 17 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1672), Nehemiah Grew, “Of the Root”, in The Anatomy of Vegetables Begun. […], London: […] Spencer Hickman, printer to the R[oyal] Society, […], →OCLC, pages 52–53:

And I do perſvvade my ſelf, that the common Devv exhaled from ſome ſorts of Herbs or VVeeds, but eſpecially from the common Graſs, carries vvith it the Seminal Tincture of the Herb, vvhich being again deſcended by Devvs or Rain upon the bare and naked Earth, re-produceth the ſame Species: […]

a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, “Concerning Vegetables, and Especially Insecta Animalia, whether Any of Them are Sponte Orta, or Arise Not rather Ex Præexistente Semine”, in The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC, section III, page 267:

A material essence thought to be capable of extraction from a substance.


Luna

From Middle English lune, luna (“the moon”), from Latin lūna/Lūna, from Proto-Indo-European *lówksneh₂. Doublet of Roxane.


magnum opus

en-noun

magnum opus (plural magna opera or magnum opuses or (nonstandard) magnum opi)

magna opera (plural)
magnum opuses (plural)
magnum opi (nonstandard plural)

Don Quixote
In Search of Lost Time
Marcel Proust
Miguel de Cervantes

/ˌmæɡnəm ˈəʊpəs/

(alchemy) The process of working with the prima materia to create the philosopher's stone.


PK

PK (countable and uncountable, plural PKs)

(parapsychology) Initialism of psychokinesis.


Mercury

Inherited from Middle English Mercurie, from Latin Mercurius.

(obsolete, alchemy, chemistry) Quicksilver, mercury. (No longer capitalized, as the name of the metal is no longer recognized as that of the planet.)


false memory syndrome

(pseudoscience) A condition in which a person's identity and relationships are affected by memories which are factually incorrect but strongly believed.


Mars

From Middle English Mars, from Latin Mārs (“god of war”), from older Latin (older than 75 BCE) Māvors.


ESP

ESP (countable and uncountable, plural ESPs)

We don't know how they decide if they should keep a name, because Bennie and Scotty don't actually talk. But they agree on everything, maybe through ESP.

2010, Jennifer Egan, “Ask Me if I Care”, in A Visit from the Goon Squad:

Rubio accused Christie of having to be dragged back to New Jersey under pressure to handle the storm. Christie retorted, “Is that one of the skills you get as a United States senator? ESP?”

2016 February 6, Kyle Cheney, “11 most explosive moments of the GOP debate”, in Politico:

extrasensory perception
extrasensory perception#English

(parapsychology) Abbreviation of extrasensory perception.


telepathically

The magician claimed he could telepathically determine which card I was holding, but I knew it was a trick.


telepathic

en-adj

telepathic (comparative more telepathic, superlative most telepathic)

more telepathic (comparative)
most telepathic (superlative)

/ˌtɛlɪˈpæθɪk/

(parapsychology) Of, relating to, or using telepathy.


ectoplasm

en-noun

ectoplasm (countable and uncountable, plural ectoplasms)

He saw again clearly enough[…]the doctor’s consulting room in the Avenida de la Revolución, visited for some drunken reason in the early hours of the morning, macabre with its pictures of ancient Spanish surgeons, their goat faces rising queerly from ruffs resembling ectoplasm, roaring with laughter as they performed inquisitorial operations; […]

1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 137:

Watching as the woman lifted her skirts and flung out ectoplasm, expelled it into a bowl, then brandished it around at her audience wildly.

2021, Jenni Fagan, Luckenbooth, William Heinemann, page 131:

(parapsychology) A visible substance believed to emanate from the body of a spiritualistic medium during communication with the dead.

إكتوبلازم

parapsychology: visible substance believed to emanate from spiritualistic mediums

Then came some hollow groanings from inside the cabinet. The Spiritualists sat up expectantly. "That's ectoplasm," said Ogilvy. "It always causes pain on emission."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(parapsychology) An immaterial or ethereal substance, especially the transparent corporeal presence of a spirit or ghost.

ektoplasma

parapsychology: an immaterial or ethereal substance


empathy

empathy (countable and uncountable, plural empathies)

A twentieth-century borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια (empátheia, literally “passion”) (formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) + πάθος (páthos, “feeling”)), coined by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate German Einfühlung. The modern word in Greek εμπάθεια (empátheia) has an opposite meaning denoting strong negative feelings and prejudice against someone.

coin

(parapsychology, science fiction) A paranormal ability to psychically read another person's emotions.


retrocognition

en-noun

retrocognition (usually uncountable, plural retrocognitions)

/ˌɹɛtɹəʊkɒɡˈnɪʃən/

(parapsychology) extrasensory knowledge of past events.


alchemical

[Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes. The truth is that Newton was very much a product of his time.

2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:

(alchemy) Of or pertaining to the medieval chemical science and philosophy of alchemy.


biodynamic

en-adj

biodynamic (comparative more biodynamic, superlative most biodynamic)

more biodynamic (comparative)
most biodynamic (superlative)

biologisch-dynamisch

Relating to agriculture according to Anthroposophic precepts

This ancient mode of thought exists to this day in the mystical biodynamic gardening practices of Rudolph Steiner, which call for planting only when the moon is in a favorable position for the variety of plant chosen.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 215:

(Anthroposophy, agriculture, pseudoscience) Of, or relating to a form of organic agriculture with mystical and holistic elements, based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner.

(New Age, psychoanalysis, pseudoscience) Of, or relating to a form of psychotherapy, massage and energy healing developed by Gerda Boyesen in Norway in the 1950s.


irreducible complexity

Coined by Michael Behe in his 1996 book Darwin's Black Box.

(biology, pseudoscience) The proposition that complex organs such as eyes and flagella must have started existing in their current form; i.e., that they cannot have evolved from previous, less complex stages.

Darwin's Black Box
Michael Behe
irreducible complexity


archeus

From Ancient Greek ἀρχαῖος (arkhaîos, “original, ancient”).

uder

[…] it must be the Modus of some other Substance latitant in the fluid Matter, and really distinguishable from it; which is either the Soul, or some seminal Form or Archeus, as the Chymist calls it […]

1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book II, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 68

Willis rejected not just scholasticism's ‘substantial forms’ but Paracelsus's ‘archeus’ doctrine as well.

2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin, published 2004, page 56:

But Paracelsus' theory of the archeus and the alchemy of life inevitably led him into deeper waters.

2006, Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor, Arrow, published 2007, page 250:

(alchemy) The vital principle or force believed by the Paracelsians to be responsible for alchemical reactions within living bodies, and hence for the growth and continuation of life.

arqueu

the vital principle or force responsible for life


psychokinesis

en-noun

psychokinesis (usually uncountable, plural psychokineses)

(parapsychology) The movement of physical systems and objects by the use of psychic power. Abbreviated as PK.

telekinesia

movement inanimate objects by the use of psychic power


magistery

magistery (countable and uncountable, plural magisteries)

/ˈmæd͡ʒɪstəɹi/

/ˈmæd͡ʒəˌstəɹi/

PIE word
 *méǵh₂s
From Middle English magisteri, magistery (“academic degree of Master”), from Latin magisterium (“office of a chief, director, president, or superintendent; teaching office or authority of the Roman Catholic Church; authoritative statement”) (compare Late Latin magisterium (“philosopher’s stone”)), from magister (“master (title for a person in authority or one having a licence from a university to teach liberal arts and philosophy); teacher”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”) + *-teros (contrastive or oppositional suffix forming adjectives)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns, sometimes denoting groups and offices). Doublet of magisterium. Cognate with French magistère, Old French magisteire.

der

[T]hey made proofe of the ſaid flowers dried, and this high magiſterie they found, That being beaten to pouder, they cured thoſe of the bloudie flix,^([sic – meaning flux]) vvho lay at the very point of death upon that diſeaſe; […]

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXIII.] The Medicinable Vertues Considered in the Flowers, Leaves, Fruit, Boughs, Branches, Barke, Wood, Juice, Root, and Ashes of Many Trees of Severall Kinds.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 165:

[…] I have been here long enough, if I were matter capable thereof, to be made the Philoſophers Stone, to be converted from VVater to Povvder, vvhich is the vvhole Magiſtery: I have been beſides, ſo long upon the Anvil, that methinks I am grovvn malleable, and hammer-proof: I am ſo habituated to hardſhip.

1645 March 5 (Gregorian calendar), James Howell, “XLIII. To Sir Levvis Dives, in the Tovver.”, in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ. Familiar Letters Domestic and Forren. […], 3rd edition, volume II, London: […] Humphrey Mos[e]ley, […], published 1655, →OCLC, section VI, page 334:

This wanton Information being over, Daphnis, who had ſtill a Childish Pastorall mind, would presently be gone, and run up to Chloe, to have an experiment with her, how much he had profited by that magistery, as if indeed he had bin afraid lest staying but a little longer, he could forget to do his trick.

1657, Longus, “The Third Book”, in George Thornley, transl., Daphnis & Chloe […] (Abbey Classics; no. 13), London: Simpkin, Marshall, published 1924?, →OCLC, page 124:

But yet farther, Gain aſſurance of thy Peace with God in Chriſt, and conſequently of thy future Happineſs; and be frequent in the Contemplation and Improvement of it. This is the great Engine of a Chriſtian, a Magiſtery that was never attained by the moſt exquiſite Philoſopher, nor is attainable but in and by the knowledge of Chriſt, who brought Life and Immortality to light: […]

1676, Matthew Hale, “Of the Moderation of the Affections. [A Preparative against Afflictions; with Directions for Our Deportment under Them, and upon Our Delivery out of Them.]”, in Contemplations Moral and Divine. The Second Part, London: […] William Shrewsbury […], and Tho[mas] Leigh and D[aniel] Midwinter, […], published 1699, →OCLC, page 393:

Some elements were conquerors, some conquered; there existed preparations which possessed the power of changing the whole of a body of a substance of another kind: these were called magisteries.

[1837, William Whewell, “On the Mysticism of the Middle Ages”, in History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the Present Times. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […]; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: J. and J. J. Deighton, →OCLC, book IV (History of the Physical Sciences in the Middle Ages), pages 304–305:

A pure quality with the power to cure or to turn one substance into another; also, a substance such as a philosopher's stone able to turn one substance into another.

(obsolete) The product of such a transformation.


pyrokinesis

(parapsychology, fantasy, science fiction) The ability to set objects or people on fire or to supernaturally project fire from one's own being through the concentration of psychic power.

pyrokinesia

the ability to set objects or people on fire


perpetual motion machine

en-noun

perpetual motion machine (plural perpetual motion machines)

(physics, pseudoscience) A hypothetical, pseudoscientific device that exhibits perpetual motion, especially one that does useful work with no input of energy.

perpetual motion machine of the first kind

perpetual motion machine of the second kind


ens

From Late Latin ēns (“thing”), from esse (“to be”). See entity.

Here he states that there are five ‘active principles’ – the five Enses or entia – that influence our bodies and give rise to disease […]

2006, Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor, Arrow, published 2007, page 245:

(chemistry, alchemy, now historical) Something supposed to condense within itself all the virtues and qualities of a substance from which it is extracted; an essence, an active principle.


leprous

en-adj

leprous (comparative more leprous, superlative most leprous)

more leprous (comparative)
most leprous (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-leprous.wav

From Middle English leprous (“having leprosy or a skin disease with symptoms like leprosy; (alchemy) of metals or minerals: impure; a leper”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman leprous, lepros [and other forms], Middle French lepros, lepreux, and Old French leprous, lepros (“having leprosy; a leper”) (modern French lépreux), and from their etymon Late Latin leprosus (“having leprosy; (alchemy) of metals: impure; a leper”), from Latin lepra (“leprosy”) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; overly; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Lepra is derived from Ancient Greek λέπρᾱ (léprā, “leprosy”), from λεπῐ́ς (lepís, “flake, scale; epithelial debris”) (perhaps from λέπω (lépō, “to peel, strip off a husk or rind”) + -ῐς (-is, suffix forming feminine nouns)) + -ᾱ (-ā, suffix forming action nouns from verbs).

nb...

leperous, leperus, lepourous, lepres, lepris, lepros, leprose, leprouse, leprows, leprus, lepruse, leprys

leperous, leperus, leprus, lepuros, lieprous, lieprus

lepric

particularly with regard to the disease itself

(alchemy, historical) Of gold or other metals: contaminated with other substances; impure.


If thou wilt turne ♄ into ♃ make plates of ♄, ſtrow them with Salt Armoniack, cement, and melt them, as aboveſaid, ſo will all the blackneſſe, and darkneſſe bee taken away from the Lead, and it will be in whiteneſſe like fair Engliſh Tin.

1650, Paracelsus, “Of the Nature of Things”, in John French, transl., A New Light of Alchymie, page 74:


biokinesis

(parapsychology, science fiction) The ability, through the use of psychic power, to affect organic matter on a microscopic level, to manipulate the physiology (e.g. heart rate, breathing, nervous system or brainwaves) and voluntary motor functions of other people or living organisms, inducing processes such as accelerated healing, etc.


spagyrist

From modern Latin spagirista, from spagiricus (“alchemy”) (probably invented by Paracelsus).

It has, of late more particularly, assumed not only an unforbidding, but even an engaging form, by the facility with which many of its most important researches are now conducted, and by the extension of them to numerous objects which had not before been attended to by the old spagyrists.

1780, Francis de Wasserberg, “Chemical Institutions for the Use of Students”, in The Monthly Review, Or, Literary Journal, volume 63, page 502:

The Carmelite enjoyed the general amazement, and he told father and son how the secret of this substance had been revealed to him by an Arab; it was medicine far more powerful than the one Christian spagyrists called unguentum armarium.

1994, Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before, Harcourt Brace, published 1995, page 21:

Back when I was still a junior alchemist, passing through What Cheer, Iowa, met up with this old-school spagyrist name of Doddling, who showed me how to get silver to grow just like a tree.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, “Against the Day”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 1060:

(alchemy) An alchemist, especially one who tried to discover remedies for diseases.


calcine

en-verb

calcine (third-person singular simple present calcines, present participle calcining, simple past and past participle calcined)

calcines (present singular third-person)
calcining (participle present)
calcined (participle past)
calcined (past)
calcine (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English calcinen (“(alchemy, medicine) to heat (something) until it turns to powder; to change the nature of (something) by heating”) [and other forms], from Old French calciner (modern French calciner (“to calcinate; to calcine”)) and from its etymon Medieval Latin calcināre (“(alchemy) to burn like lime; to reduce to calx”), from Late Latin calcīna (“inorganic material containing calcium, lime”) + -āre (suffix forming present active infinitive forms of verbs). Calcīna is derived from Latin calcis, the genitive singular of calx (“chalk; limestone”), possibly from Ancient Greek χᾰ́λῐξ (khálix, “small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble”); further etymology unknown, possibly Pre-Greek.
The noun is derived from the verb.

nb...

calcene, calcenen, calciene, calcyne, calsinen

der

(alchemy, historical) To heat (a substance) to remove its impurities and refine it.


spirit of wine

Inherited from Middle English spirit of wyn, calque of Latin spiritus vini.

inh+

(alchemy) Aqua vitae prepared by distilling wine.


aqua vitae

en-noun

aqua vitae (countable and uncountable, plural aquae vitae)

From Medieval Latin aqua vītae directly and via Middle English aqua vite and French eau-de-vie, from aqua (“water”) and vītae (“of life”). Doublet of aquavit and akvavit. Compare eau de vie, whisky, whiskey, and water of life from the same source.

(alchemy) An aqueous solution of alcohol typically prepared by distilling wine.


But that the five leſſer, and impurer Metalls, viz. ♀ ♃ ♄ ♂ and ☿ may be tranſmuted into the greater, pureſt, and moſt perfect Metalls, viz. into ☉ and ☾, it cannot be done without the Tincture, or Philoſophers ſtone.

1650, Paracelsus, “Of the Nature of Things”, in John French, transl., A New Light of Alchymie, page 73:


vibratory

en-adj

vibratory (comparative more vibratory, superlative most vibratory)

more vibratory (comparative)
most vibratory (superlative)

The seven levels would, therefore, correspond to the various vibratory planes of the subtle bodies of the world.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 202:

(parapsychology) Of or relating to vibrations of a spiritual, etheric, or astral nature.


photokinesis

en-noun

photokinesis (usually uncountable, plural photokineses)

(parapsychology) The ability to mentally manipulate light.


astral plane

Incidentally, such beings may be said to have an existence of a sort upon the lower astral plane; they are elementals created by man's evil desires and unclean thoughts.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 115:

The realm of the astral plane is an intermediate realm; below is the world of matter, above is the world of pure Being.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 221:

(parapsychology, theosophy, fantasy) A supernatural plane of existence consisting of the world of the celestial spheres, propounded by esoteric philosophies, some religious teachings, and New Age thought.


walk-in

This soul-exchange happens without the body dying. Star People and Walk-ins can be of either orientation—positive or negative—although most from fifth density and beyond are positive.

(parapsychology) A person whose original soul has departed the body and been replaced with another.


precognition

precognition (countable and uncountable, plural precognitions)

/ˌpɹiːkɒɡˈnɪʃn̩/

Borrowed from Middle French precognition or its source, Latin praecognitio, from praecognōscō (“to know beforehand”). Equivalent to Germanic cognate foreknowledge and Greek-based cognate prognosis.

(parapsychology) Knowledge of the future; understanding of something in advance, especially as a form of supernatural or extrasensory perception.

предусещане

knowledge of something that is to occur in the future


biorhythm

/ˈbaɪ.oʊˌɹɪð.əm/

(pseudoscience) Any of three sinusoidal graphs, normally plotted by computer, having a person's birthdate as origin, that are claimed to give meaningful information about emotional levels, physical energy levels, and mental/psychic sensitivity.


noble metal

(inorganic chemistry, alchemy) A metal resistant to corrosion, oxidizing and tarnishing, such as gold or platinum.


phantasmal

en-adj

phantasmal (comparative more phantasmal, superlative most phantasmal)

more phantasmal (comparative)
most phantasmal (superlative)

From phantasm or phantasma (“phantasm”) + -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).

fantoma

of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantom — see also ghostly, spectral

Of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantasm (“something seen but having no physical reality”); imaginary, unreal.

(parapsychology) Of or pertaining to, or having the characteristics of, a phantasm (“perception or vision of a living or dead person who is not physically present, often through telepathy”).


polywater

(pseudoscience) A supposed polymeric form of water reported to have been produced in fine capillaries; now known to be illusory.


percipient

From Latin percipiēns, present participle of percipiō (“to perceive”).

In the course of investigating the haunting, I interviewed several percipients.

(parapsychology) One who has perceived a paranormal event.


base metal

en-noun

base metal (countable and uncountable, plural base metals)

(chiefly alchemy) one that was hoped to be transmuted into a precious metal.


potable gold

From potable + gold. From being something drinkable that is like gold.
* (alchemy): from being an elixir that confers the untarnishability and eternity of gold to a person

This tradition found its way to the West in the notion of ‘potable gold’ (aurum potabile), a medicine that, if drunk, would cure all manner of ills.

2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, published 2004, page 60:

(alchemy) A theoretical substance which would confer eternal life on the drinker.


ectoplasmic

en-adj

ectoplasmic (comparative more ectoplasmic, superlative most ectoplasmic)

more ectoplasmic (comparative)
most ectoplasmic (superlative)

"In this case being unable, owing to the evil conditions which you have yourself created, to build up an ectoplasmic form they wrapped the unconscious medium in an ectoplasmic covering, and sent him forth from the cabinet."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

Kathleen wore dungarees and her gingham skirt was laundered to an ectoplasmic degree.

1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 232:

(parapsychology or cytology) Relating to, or having the properties or appearance of, ectoplasm.


magisterium

en-noun

magisterium (plural magisteriums or magisteria)

magisteriums (plural)
magisteria (plural)

From Latin magisterium (“office of a president, chief; magisterium”), from magister (“master”). Equivalent to magister + -ium. Doublet of magistery.

uder

This is the day I am to perfect for him / The magisterium, our great work, the stone.

1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, →OCLC, (please specify the GB page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):


clairaudience

en-noun

clairaudience (countable and uncountable, plural clairaudiences)

Modelled on clairvoyance; from French clair (“clear”) + French audience (“hearing”).

(parapsychology) The power to perceive auditory stimuli beyond the realm of normal hearing.


clairaudient

Modelled on clairvoyant; from French clair (“clear”) + English audient, or, Latin audient(em) (“hearing”).

"No, sir, no. They always think I know them. I know none of them. They come and I describe them." "How do you get the message?" "Clairaudient. I hear it. I hear them all the time."

(parapsychology) Pertaining to or involving clairaudience.


clairaudient

(parapsychology) One who has the power of clairaudience.


telepath

(parapsychology, science fiction) A person with telepathic ability, capable of reading the thoughts of others around them.


telepath

en-verb

telepath (third-person singular simple present telepaths, present participle telepathing, simple past and past participle telepathed)

telepaths (present singular third-person)
telepathing (participle present)
telepathed (participle past)
telepathed (past)

Jan. 3rd, 1984.—I was in the front sitting-room and dare not go out of the room for the cold; my plants were awfully dry, and hearing E. [her niece] in the kitchen, I telepathed to her to bring me in some water. She at once came with a jug full and asked if I would water the plants.

1896 October, “A Diary of Telepathic Impressions”, in Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, volume 7, number 132, page 300:

He does not attribute one single experience to what we might term a "ghost" for lack of a better term. Witches, poltergeists, goblins, gremlins, fairies, dwarfs—all of them are real, physical, alive, being either the real thing or the teleported or telepathed image of the real thing.

1947 June, Raymond A. Palmer, “Observatory”, in Amazing Stories, volume 21, number 6, page 9:

Thanos: "Did you not suspect I could tell you had been telepathing?"

1973 February, Stan Lee, Iron Man, number 55

In your mind you have capacities you know / To telepath messages through the vast unknown

1976, “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft”, in 3:47 EST, performed by Klaatu:

(parapsychology, science fiction) To communicate by thought; to use telepathy.


geokinesis

(parapsychology) The ability to manipulate the movement of minerals in the earth using supposed psychic powers.


ferrokinesis

(parapsychology) The ability to mentally manipulate iron and other metals.


magnetokinesis

(parapsychology) The ability to mentally control magnetic fields.


teleplasm

en-noun

teleplasm (usually uncountable, plural teleplasms)


empath

She was the empath who would betray empaths if she got the chance. So they'd tried to fix things so that she didn't get the chance.

1957, Hans Stefan Santesson, editor, Fantastic Universe:

How did a complete stranger know he was an empath? He rarely if ever talked about it, even to his closest friends. It made people uneasy.

The aura may, in fact, linger around objects or places and that "lingering energy" is what an empath senses and intuits.

(science fiction, parapsychology) A person with extra-sensory empathic ability, capable of sensing the emotions of others around them in a way unexplained by conventional science and psychology.


channeler

Few channelers call themselves mediums, however, in part because the term conjures up an image of gypsy crones hunched over crystal balls, and in part because spiritualism has a history of fraud.

1988 January 15, C.C. Pyle, “Our Bodies, Their Selves”, in Chicago Reader:

(parapsychology) A person who engages in channelling


psychometry

psychometry (countable and uncountable, plural psychometries)

"Their power and knowledge are as closely limited as ours. But this is not a matter for the spirit people. What I did then was psychometry, which, so far as we know, is a power of the human soul."

(parapsychology) The paranormal ability to discover information about an object's past, and especially about its past owners, merely by handling it.


Rolfing

Rolfing (countable and uncountable, plural Rolfings)

From Rolf + -ing.
From Ida Pauline Rolf, the creator of Rolfing.

(pseudoscience) A form of deep tissue massage.


out-of-body experience

out-of-body experience (plural out-of-body experiences)

(parapsychology) An experience in which one feels outside of one’s body.

靈魂出竅

experience in which one feels outside one's body


reparative therapy

reparative therapy (countable and uncountable, plural reparative therapies)

Reparative therapy is not a cure in the sense of erasing all homosexual feelings. It is however, a successful treatment strengthening masculine identification.

1991, Joseph Nicolosi, “Reparative therapy of male homosexuality: A new clinical approach”, in Jason Aronson:

conversion therapy
conversion therapy#English

(LGBT, pseudoscience) Synonym of conversion therapy


conversion therapy

conversion therapy (countable and uncountable, plural conversion therapies)

sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts

(LGBT, pseudoscience) The practice of psychiatric or psychological treatment to attempt to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of an LGBT person; used especially as an attempt to turn gay people heterosexual.


Young Earth creationism

(creationism, pseudoscience) Belief that the universe and the Earth are 6,000 to 10,000 years old as inferred from a literal interpretation of the creation narrative in Genesis.


mediumship

mediumship (countable and uncountable, plural mediumships)

The mother is a spiritualist—has been for years—and, being on the lookout for it, naturally discovered what she calls 'mediumship' in Viola when a child.

1905, Hamlin Garland, “Dr. Britt Explains”, in Tyranny of the Dark, Reprint edition (Fiction), Project Gutenberg, published 2008, page 70:

"I may add that in my own domestic circle, under my wife's mediumship, we have been privileged to bring hope and knowledge to some of these unhappy beings."

But for myself I do not regard mediumship very favourably.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 276:

(parapsychology) The state of being a medium (psychic conduit); purported ability to mediate communication between spirits of the dead and living human beings.


ex-gay

Ex-gay ministries began as redoubts for men and women trying to reconcile their faith and sexuality.

2003 January 1, Casey Sanchez, “Memphis Area Love In Action Offers Residential Program to "Cure" Homosexuality”, in Southern Poverty Law Center:

Instead of fire-and-brimstone denunciations from the pulpit, the ex-gay movement allowed the Christian right to couch its condemnation of homosexuality in a way that seemed compassionate.

2012 April 11, Gabriel Arana, “My So-Called Ex-Gay Life”, in The American Prospect:

For two decades, McKrae Game was a top-tier figure among ex-gay Christians and a leading advocate for conversion therapy, a counseling practice with the goal of helping LGBTQ people suppress their homosexuality and become "straight."

2019 September 6, Jonathan Merritt, “The ex-gay Christianity movement is making a quiet comeback. The effects on LGBTQ youth could be devastating.”, in The Washington Post:

(pseudoscience) Of or pertaining to the movement that considers homosexuality a disease and claims it can be cured by conversion therapy.


ex-gay

(pseudoscience, especially in the plural) A person who considers themselves or is considered by others to be no longer homosexual, usually due to conversion therapy.


apport

apport (countable and uncountable, plural apports)

From Latin apportō (“to bring, to carry”).

She put her hand down and felt it. "It's a flower - a chrysanthemum. Thank you, Wee One!" "An apport?" asked Mailey. "No, no, Mr. Mailey," said Bolsover. "They were in the vase on the harmonium. Speak to her, Miss Challenger. Keep the vibrations going."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Which Describes Some Strange Doings in Hammersmith”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(parapsychology) The supposed paranormal transference of an object from one place to another, or the appearance of an object from an unknown source, often associated with poltergeist activity and séances.

(parapsychology) An object that appears from an unknown source.

apportti

an object that appears from an unknown source


apport

en-verb

apport (third-person singular simple present apports, present participle apporting, simple past and past participle apported)

apports (present singular third-person)
apporting (participle present)
apported (participle past)
apported (past)

(parapsychology) To cause an apport on an object, to make a thing appear from nowhere.


telepathize

telepathize (third-person singular simple present telepathizes, present participle telepathizing, simple past and past participle telepathized)

telepathizes (present singular third-person)
telepathizing (participle present)
telepathized (participle past)
telepathized (past)

Suppose we assume that the percipient does precognitively telepathize the two-seconds-in-the-future psychological state of the agent's brain/mind.

1978, Paul E. Meehl, “Precognitive Telepathy I: On The Possibility of Distinguishing it Experimentally from Psychokinesis”, in Noûs, volume 12, number 3, page 249:

(transitive, parapsychology) To establish contact with or to receive via telepathy.

It does not seem to make sense to speak of learning to telepathize.

1962, W. I. Matson, “Against Induction and Empiricism,”, in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, volume 62, page 152:

(intransitive, parapsychology) To engage in telepathic communication.


cohobate

cohobate (third-person singular simple present cohobates, present participle cohobating, simple past and past participle cohobated)

cohobates (present singular third-person)
cohobating (participle present)
cohobated (participle past)
cohobated (past)

From New Latin cohobātus, past participle of cohobāre, perhaps from Arabic كَعَّبَ (kaʕʕaba).

(physical chemistry, alchemy) To treat a material with a boiling liquid and repeatedly return the distillate.

предестилирам

to treat a material with a boiling liquid and repeatedly return the distillate


odic

en-adj

odic (comparative more odic, superlative most odic)

more odic (comparative)
most odic (superlative)

From od + -ic, modelled after German odisch.

Reichenbach has detected, or fancies that he has detected a force, which he designates the odic force, distinct from magnetism and electricity, by which many of the more recondite phenomena of nature are apparently effected.

1853, Southern Literary Messenger, volume 19, page 389:

Such was the origin of the delusions of "animal magnetism," and "odic" and "psychic" force—claims that belong to cerebro-physiology, a department of science that is now but just passing out of the territorial into the organized stage.

1878 July, George Miller Beard, The Scientific Study of Human Testimony, Part III, in Popular Science Monthly, Volume 13

With his death, not only the odic theory but the whole conception of animal magnetism would appear to have been buried and forgotten, the only references, as this one from Garrison's History of Medicine, being of a disparaging nature: ‘The whole subject was exploited in various mystic forms ... by Baron von Reichenbach, whose concept of odic force still survives in ouija boards and odic telephones.’

1973, Aubrey T. Westlake, The Pattern of Health: A Search for a Greater Understanding of the Life Force in Health and Disease, page 32:

(pseudoscience, historical) Synonym of odylic (“of or pertaining to the od or odyle (“a hypothetical force or natural power, now proved not to exist, which was supposed by Carl Reichenbach and others to inhere in certain people and produce phenomena such as animal magnetism and mesmerism, and to be developed by various agencies, as by chemical or vital action, heat, light, magnets, etc.”)”)


hyperdiffusion

en-noun

hyperdiffusion (countable and uncountable, plural hyperdiffusions)

(pseudoscience) Pseudoarchaeological hypothesis that postulated that historical technologies can be traced to a single civilization.


remote viewing

(parapsychology) A paranormal ability by which a person can gather information about a distant unseen target.

遠端觀察

paranormal ability to gather information from great distances


mysterium

/mɪˈstɪəɹɪəm/

Borrowed from Latin mystērium. Doublet of mystery.

There are many such mysteria: milk is a mysterium of cheese and butter, and cheese in turn a mysterium of maggots, which were thought to form spontaneously in rotting food.

2006, Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor, Arrow, published 2007, page 263:

(chemistry, alchemy, now historical) Any of various unknown elements thought to make up existing forms of matter, or a substance seen as an elemental or pure form of something else.


rebis

From Latin res (“matter”) + Latin bina (“double”).

While the rebis is the final form of alchemical variability, the larger process of alchemy looked to mercury as both the agent and patient of transformative possibilities.

2023, Micah James Goodrich, “Trans Animacies and Premodern Alchemies”, in Medieval Mobilities: Gendered Bodies, Spaces, and Movements, page 214:

(alchemy, fiction) The end product of the alchemical magnum opus, a reunion of opposing qualities such as spirit and matter or male and female, represented by an androgynous being.


EVP

She is now one of the country's foremost EVP experts, having hosted over 400 consultations. Like all EVP practitioners, she usually hears faint, single words—never anything about where spirits are calling from, no guidance or warnings of any use other than proving life after death.

2005 January 4, “Shortcuts”, in The Guardian:

Electronic voice phenomenon
w:Electronic voice phenomenon

(parapsychology) Initialism of Electronic voice phenomenon.


rubedo

(alchemy) A "reddening" process, the fourth and final major stage of the alchemical magnum opus.


nigredo

(alchemy) A process of putrefaction or decomposition, one of the four major stages of the alchemical magnum opus.


mesmerizable

en-adj

mesmerizable (comparative more mesmerizable, superlative most mesmerizable)

more mesmerizable (comparative)
most mesmerizable (superlative)

(archaic, pseudoscience, of metals, etc.) Capable of storing a hypnotic force.


caput mortuum

Unadapted borrowing from Latin caput mortuum (literally “dead head”).

ubor

(alchemy) Worthless residue of sublimation or distillation.


thorybism

From Ancient Greek θόρυβος (thórubos, “noise”) + -ism. Coined by René Sudre.

af

(parapsychology, rare) Poltergeist activity or disturbances.


prosopopesis

From prosopo- (“person, mask”) + -poiesis; introduced by French psychical researcher René Sudre, whose book "Parapsychology" (1926) was published in English by Grove Press in 1962. Possibly influenced by προσωποποιία (prosōpopoiía, “dramatization, prosopopoeia”).

Mr. Soal declares that while the presence of certain persons is favorable to his duplication of personality and while some persons actually aid the prosopopesis, others have an inhibitive influence.

1929, Psychic Research, volume 23, American Society for Psychical Research, page 381:

Later, French psychical researcher René Sudre (1880-1968) discussed what he referred to as prosopopesis or the nonconscious tendency to impersonate, as seen in mediumship, as well as in hypnosis, possession and cases of double and multiple personality.

2011, Etzel Cardeña, Michael Winkelman, Altering Consciousness: Multidisiplinary Perspectives, volume 1, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 105:

Walter is good-naturedly willing to be called a "secondary personality," a "hypnotic impersonation", a "mindkin" (C.D.Broad), a "prosopopesis" (Sudre) or "entelechy" (Driesch). In fact, he says, "You may call me anything but 'It'!"

1975, Carl Allanmore Murchison, The case for and against psychical belief, Ayer Publishing, →ISBN, page 94:

(parapsychology, rare) A sudden and profound change of an individual's personality, whether spontaneous or induced e.g. in hypnosis.


leprosity

en-noun

leprosity (countable and uncountable, plural leprosities)

From Middle English leprosite, from Medieval Latin leprositas (“state of being leprous, leprosy”) either directly or via French leprosite, from leprōsus (“leprous”) + -itas (“-ity”).

der

The purpose of physical alchemy—as opposed to its various spiritual pursuits—was to treat the leprosity of base metals such as lead, refining and purifying them into gold.

(alchemy, of metals) The supposed impurity or impurities of various metals, understood as causing their deviation from gold.


odylic

From odyle, odyl + -ic (suffix meaning of or pertaining to forming adjectives from nouns). Odyle, odyl is derived from od (borrowed from German Od, arbitrarily coined by the German scientist and philosopher Carl Reichenbach (1788–1869)) + Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē, “wood; material, matter, substance”).

der

A bundle of bars or of horse-shoes, placed with like magnetic poles in contact, has its odylic poles reversed, so as to alternate with each other.

1850, Karl, Baron von Reichenbach [i.e., Carl Reichenbach], “Eighth Treatise. Luminous Phenomena.”, in William Gregory, transl., Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, Heat, Light, Crystallization, and Chemical Attraction, in Their Relations to the Vial Force. […], London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly, […]; Edinburgh: MacLachlan & Stewart, →OCLC, part II, paragraph 378, page 303:

If the laboratory of the professor could be graced with the odylometer, the odylic battery, and the snail telegraph, what a blaze of odylic light would be concentrated there from the past, the present, and the future! And who could endure it but those whose bodies had long "bathed in odylic light," and whose minds had been long saturated with odylic belief? Such are some few of the notions and statements which we find in Professor Gregory's book. As we have read them, we have paused, we know not how often, and asked, Can it be that Dr. Gregory, the Professor of Chemistry in Edinburgh, really believes as he writes? May it not, after all, be a burlesque?

1851 October, W. H., “Art. XI.—Letters to a Candid Inquirer on Animal Magnetism. By William Gregory, M.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh. Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1851. [book review]”, in Isaac [Minis] Hays, editor, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, volume XXII (New Series), number XLIV, Philadelphia, Pa.: Blanchard & Lea, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 441:

I believe it is the odylic vapour which has been attached to seeds found in the case of a mummy, which, after 3,000 years, makes that seed germinate.

1863, [Samuel Guppy], “Finis”, in Mary Jane; or, Spiritualism Chemically Explained with Spirit Drawings. […], London: […] John King & Co., […], →OCLC, page 363:

The odylic light generally confines itself to more or less luminous spots, e.g., around the finger-tips, the eyes, the mouth, the solar plexus, etc., but does not generally appear as a complete aura surrounding the body at a distance from it, except to more clairvoyant people who are said to be able to see this light, in both light and darkness, in the form of an aura with the ordinary colours, red on the left side and blue on the right.

1913 August, F. C. Wehmeyer, “Seeing the Aura by the Aid of Coloured Screens”, in Annie Besant, editor, The Theosophist: A Magazine of Brotherhood, Oriental Philosophy, Art, Literature and Occultism, volume XXXIV, part II, number 11, Adyar, Madras, Tamil Nadu: Theosophical Publishing House, →OCLC, page 719:

One of the most important modifications of the original theory of the magnetic fluid was instituted in the forties by the Baron Carl von Reichenbach who renamed it the Odylic Force and incorporated it into an esoteric lore of poles and passes in which a number of secondary polarities in the human body were postulated, […]

1976, E[sther] M. Thornton, “New Developments in Germany”, in Hypnotism, Hysteria and Epilepsy: An Historical Synthesis, London: William Heinemann Medical Books, →ISBN, page 73:

(pseudoscience, historical) Of or pertaining to the od or odyle (“a hypothetical force or natural power, now proved not to exist, which was supposed by Carl Reichenbach and others to inhere in certain people and produce phenomena such as animal magnetism and mesmerism, and to be developed by various agencies, as by chemical or vital action, heat, light, magnets, etc.”).


chrysopoeia

/kɹɪsəˈpiːə/

Actually, in the beginning, Toledo himself was as bent on reperforming the chrysopoeia as anyone. He was driven by greed, more than the hunger for discovery and glory, which is what drove our father.

Cassanda Ryan, The Kingdom of Sagely - Legacy of a Dragoness (page 262)


niggerology

Josiah Nott, readying one of his broadsides for publication, wrote: "All the articles I have written on niggerology have been eagerly sought for at the South, and in the present excited state of the political world, I think the thing will go well.

1970, Sidney Fine, Gerald Saxon Brown, The American past: conflicting interpretations of great issues:

Mr. Martin could not imagine life without niggers, and since they were inevitable, he considered it a matter of common expedience to know what to expect of them. Hence, he had developed his own science of niggerology, which he used like an Etruscan bed, lopping off some here, stretching some there to achieve a common fit for all.

1996, Charles Eric Lincoln, Coming Through the Fire: Surviving Race and Place in America, →ISBN, page 30:

I thought your major was political science, not niggerology!"

2003, Eva Rutland, No Crystal Stair, →ISBN, page 313:

In the year of the Dred Scott decision, the bookselling concession at a Nott lecture offered one-stop shopping for anyone with an interest in niggerology.

2007, Jabari Asim, The N Word: Who Can Say It, who Shouldn't, and why, →ISBN, page 53:

(pseudoscience, offensive) The study of black people, especially when isolated as a problem group.


melanosis

en-noun

melanosis (countable and uncountable, plural melanoses)

black cancer

see 1882 citation, The Cincinnati Enquirer


cibation

cibation (countable and uncountable, plural cibations)

From Latin cibatio, from cibare (“to feed”).

fermentation and cibation

1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, →OCLC, (please specify the GB page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

(obsolete, alchemy) The operation of feeding the contents of the crucible with fresh material.


chalcanthum

Borrowed from French calcante or Latin chalcanthum.

(alchemy, obsolete) Copper(II) sulfate (CuSO₄).


water

water (countable and uncountable, plural waters)

desc

Antigua and Barbuda Creole English: wata

Aukan: wataa

Australian Kriol: woda

Belizean Creole: waata

Bislama: wota

Cameroon Pidgin: wata

Grenadian Creole English: wata

Gullah: wata

Islander Creole English: waata

Jamaican Creole: wata

Krio: wata

Nicaraguan Creole: wáta

Pichinglis: wàtá

Pijin: wata

Pitcairn-Norfolk: worta

Saramaccan: wáta

Sranan Tongo: watra

Tok Pisin: wara

→ American Sign Language: 6@Chin

→ Catalan: vàter

→ Spanish: váter

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *wed-
Proto-Indo-European *-r̥
Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥
Proto-Germanic *watōr
Proto-West Germanic *watar
Old English wæter
Middle English water
English water
From Middle English water, from Old English wæter (“water”), from Proto-West Germanic *watar, from Proto-Germanic *watōr (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ (“water”). The development of the /ɔː/ vowel instead of expected */weɪtə(r)/ is irregular and has not been conclusively explained (compare father).
cognates
Cognate with cf, North Frisian weeter (“water”), Saterland Frisian Woater (“water”), West Frisian wetter (“water”), Dutch water (“water”), Low German Water (“water”), German Wasser, Old Norse vatn (Swedish vatten (“water”), Danish vand (“water”), Norwegian Bokmål vann (“water”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic vatn (“water”), Old Irish coin fodorne (“otters”, literally “water-dogs”), Latin unda (“wave”), Lithuanian vanduõ (“water”), Russian вода́ (vodá, “water”), Albanian ujë (“water”), Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”), Armenian գետ (get, “river”), Sanskrit उदन् (udán, “wave, water”), Hittite 𒉿𒀀𒋻 (wa-a-tar).

cog

Northern England, dated; obsolete elsewhere

[ˈʋaːʈər(ɯ)]

couldn't pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel

every miller draws water to his own mill

the mill cannot grind with water that is past

you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink

you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink

you can lead horses to water, but you can't make them drink

you don't miss the water till the well runs dry

you never miss the water till the well runs dry

you never miss the water until the well runs dry

He showed me the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God.

(alchemy, philosophy) The aforementioned liquid, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.


technopath

(parapsychology, science fiction) A person with techno-telepathic ability, capable of reading the electrical signals of devices, such as computers, around them.


cyberpath

Claire nodded, remembering that Micah was, in essence, a cyberpath. He could mentally convince electronics and machines to do pretty much whatever he wanted.

2015, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Heroes Reborn - Book 5: Save The Cheerleader, Destroy The World:

(parapsychology, science fiction) A person with techno-telepathic ability, capable of reading the electrical signals of electronic devices (such as computers) around them.


biopath

One biopath revealed masked tuberculosis with 14 of 46 patients, while another biopath only revealed this problem in 1 of 12.

1996, Sarah Cant, Ursula Sharma, Complementary and Alternative Medicines: Knowledge in Practice, page 123:

Biopaths like this one were low-rated telepaths whose powers lay in speaking to bodies rather than minds.

2017, K. Hippolite, The Rocket Girl's Tale, unnumbered page:

However, all telepathic biopaths were open to the committee members, who closed their eyes to listen to the sing-song voice of their first alien on planet Orthus.

2019, Darryl Gopaul, Encyclopedia Library, unnumbered page:

(parapsychology, science fiction) A person with the telepathic ability to manipulate the physiology (e.g. heart rate, breathing or brainwaves) and voluntary motor functions of other people or organisms.


aetherometry

(pseudoscience) A so-called science of energy that has no mass equivalent.


biodetoxification

(pseudoscience) Any of various spurious personal nutritional detoxification processes


superliminal

en-adj

superliminal (comparative more superliminal, superlative most superliminal)

more superliminal (comparative)
most superliminal (superlative)

The better we realise these differences, the more averse shall we be to predicting to what depth into our cellular being such perception may be pushed by those artifices of hypnotic trance, automatic writing, &c., which we are only just learning to employ. Who, even now, can maintain that there is any true psychological line of distinction between those processes which happen to rise above the threshold of our ordinary consciousness — which become super-liminal — and those processes which happen to remain sub-liminal throughout our whole bodily life?

1891, Frederic William Henry Myers, The Principles of Psychology, page 118:

The psychologist Gustav T. Fechner once introduced the idea of stimuli that are so weak that they are subliminal; they remain below the threshold of our perception and consciousness. Anders suggests that we must consider the opposite also, namely, stimuli that are absolutely too strong to be registered by our perception and imagination, stimuli that are superliminal. These can influence our behavior, passively and actively.

2000, Paul van Dijk, Anthropology in the Age of Technology: The Philosophical Contributions of Günther Anders, →ISBN, pages 77–78:

Commonly the hero, in an altered state of consciousness or under an intoxication of the senses, must pierce the veil of secrecy and penetrate to the superliminal, there to experience that which is not easily communicated, but which, even religions agree, quells all false divisions and partakes of unity.

2005, Eles T. Mann, The Image In The Mirror, →ISBN, page 216:

(rare, philosophy, parapsychology, of mental activity) Of, pertaining to, or involving a supposed kind of awareness which is above and beyond the experiential range of normal consciousness.


odylism

(pseudoscience, historical) Belief in the vital force called od or odyle.


odyle

From od + Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē, “wood; material, matter, substance”).

(pseudoscience, historical) Synonym of od (“a hypothetical force or natural power, now proved not to exist, which was supposed by Carl Reichenbach and others to inhere in certain people and produce phenomena such as animal magnetism and mesmerism, and to be developed by various agencies, as by chemical or vital action, heat, light, magnets, etc.”)


astral projection

en-noun

astral projection (usually uncountable, plural astral projections)

A select number of these robbers haunted him through his dreams, and he came to know them quite well. […] [H]e believed in omens and thought-transference, and he deemed these dream-robbers to be the astral projection of real personages who happened at those particular moments, no matter where they were in the flesh, to be harboring designs, in the spirit, upon his wealth.

1901, Jack London, “The Man with the Gash”, in The God of His Fathers, New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., page 118:

Her adventures in astral projection in which she has the sensation of flying over the earth and being connected with everything on the planet are accompanied by prosaic images of mist and stars.

1998 April 3, Stephen Holden, “Movie Review: Eden (1996)”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-03-11:

"Whether it's logic, meditation, channeling, astral projection or ghosts, all are ways of knowing," he wrote.

2002 May 12, Walter Kim, “Luke Helder's Bad Trip”, in Time, archived from the original on 2016-03-07:

(uncountable, parapsychology) The ability to deliberately detach one's mind, or a ghost-like replica of one's body (one's astral body), from one's physical body and to send it to distant places or into alternate realities or into people's dreams.

[I]f you remain close to your physical body in the first few astral projections by observing the details in your own room, you will have much stronger and clearer consciousness.

2007, Pane Andov, Extraordinary Powers in Humans, →ISBN, page 101:

(countable, parapsychology) An instance of using this ability.


Adamic earth

From the spiritual substance said to have formed Adam, the first man, in the kabbalistic tradition; symbolically, the clay of Genesis.

This is the Created Aleph, the true Adamic Earth⁵—the basis of every building in heaven and earth. [Waite: ⁵ Terra Adama, the sophic, spiritual earth, of which the first man was made—according to the Zohar. Thereon also the Temple was built in Zion. It is red, veined earth, after the manner of a pomegranate.]

1648, Thomas Vaughan, Anthroposophia Theomagica […]; republished as Arthur Edward Waite, editor, The Works of Thomas Vaughan: Eugenius Philalethes, 1919, page 27:

For the preparation of the philosopher’s stone the first requisite was the raw material, the Adamic earth, virgin earth, which is indeed to be found everywhere, but its discovery is dependent on certain conditions known to the initiated alone. “When we have once obtained this,” says Isaacus Hollandus, “the preparation of the stone is only a labour fit for women, or child’s play.[…]”

1851, Justus von Liebig, “Letter III”, in Familiar Letters on Chemistry […], 3rd edition, pages 34–5:

The end was more arduous and sublime; it was a question of recovering the adamic earth, which is the coagulated blood of the vital earth; and the supreme dream of philosophers was to accomplish the work of Prometheus by imitating the work of God […]

1913 [1860], Éliphas Lévi, translated by Arthur Edward Waite, Magic: A History of Its Rites, Rituals and Mysteries, page 204:

“The old theory of Adamic Earth is proven true. That earth is Adamic Earth. Earth as it was when God first made the earth in six days—before man was. […] It has power by fermentation to change all baser metals to gold.[…]”

(alchemy) The primordial substance of corporeal matter, said to be closely related to the philosopher’s stone and symbolically identified as “red earth” or sometimes other substances.


subtle body

Translation of सूक्ष्म शरीर (sūkṣma-śarīra) or सूक्ष्म देह (sūkṣma-deha).

(occult, parapsychology) The embodiment of the soul or mind; part of the bodymind of the human being in syncretic, esoteric philosophy.


astral body

"I suppose I am not talking to you at all. You are in Thibet with Shere Ali. This is your astral body, and if I were near enough, I could poke my fingers right through you, as you sit there, telling me you are an Edinburgh doctor, forsooth."
"Quite right, Mr. Griggs. At the present moment my body is quietly asleep in a lamastery in Thibet, and this is my astral shape.

1882, F. Marion Crawford, chapter 13, in Mr. Isaacs:

"I kept the Jewel within my great safe, whence none could extract it; not even Queen Tera herself with her astral body."

1903, Bram Stoker, chapter 15, in The Jewel of Seven Stars:

"You fool, have I no means of searching other than in the physical?" cried the man wrathfully. "I have been looking for him from the other side. It is as easy for me to use my astral body as this physical one."

1912, Fergus Hume, chapter 20, in A Son of Perdition: An Occult Romance:

I am not ready to ridicule the claim of the Yogi adepts, that they are able to project some kind of astral body, and to communicate with one another from distant places.

1917, Upton Sinclair, The Profits of Religion […] , book 6:

The voice in this case belongs to a lovely lady who has been most foully stabbed and while her body remains in a thug-infested old manse her astral body goes to ask Topper's assistance—probably the first instance on record in which the murdered victim was the first to inform the public.

1941 March 28, T. S., “Movie Review: Topper Returns (1941)”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-04-09:

(parapsychology, theosophy, fantasy) A ghost-like replica of one's physical body which supposedly inhabits or is somehow associated with the physical body, conceived as a subtle body composed of some sort of ethereal material or as being non-physical and capable of sometimes separating from the physical body to travel to other places or to other realms of existence.


philosopher's wool

From philosopher (“(obsolete) an alchemist”) + -’s + wool.

compound

(alchemy, archaic) Zinc oxide (chemical formula ZnO) as a white flocculent powder.


sympathetic powder

en-noun

sympathetic powder (countable and uncountable, plural sympathetic powders)

(alchemy, historical) A kind of powder supposed to be able to cure a wound if applied to the weapon that inflicted it, or to a portion of the bloodied clothes of the wounded person.


pseudoarchaeology

pseudoarchaeology (countable and uncountable, plural pseudoarchaeologies)

Pseudoarchaeology appeals to people who are impatient with the deliberate pace of science and who like to believe that “there is always a faint possibility that…” Some of these “cult archaeologies” show all the signs of becoming personality cults, even religious movements.

2016, Brian M. Fagan, Nadia Durrani, Archaeology: A Brief Introduction, 12th edition, Routledge, →ISBN, page 45:

The chapters in part 1, “Case Studies in Alternative Constructions of the Past: Methods, Ideologies, and Practitioners,” present examples of the nature and culture of pseudoarchaeologies and related alternative constructions of the past.

2016, Jeb J. Card, David S. Anderson, editors, Lost City, Found Pyramid: Understanding Alternative Archaeologies and Pseudoscientific Practices, University of Alabama Press, →ISBN, page 14:


When the 🜔 of Wisdom or Lapis philosophorum has passed its 7 Imbibitions and is thorougly^([sic]) fixed, take thereof One part and three parts of pure ☉ and let them melt together in a good 🝥, with a Lid luted on, and Keep it in fusion during 3 or 4 days in the 🜂, and the added ☉ will become brittle and glassy and become the metallic tinging Medicine.

1797, Sigismund Bacstrom, transl., Chemical Moon-Shine: Wherein is Demonstrated the True Subject of Philosophy, Where We are to Look for it, & How it is to be Prepared:

(alchemy) Alternative spelling of crucible


It is of a Strange and wonderful Origin, it has inexhaustible properties, it is neither hot nor dry like 🜂, nor Cold nor humid like 🜄, nor Cold nor dry like 🜃, but it is a mixture of all the Elements;


leucosis

leucosis (countable and uncountable, plural leucoses)


table-turning

table-turning (countable and uncountable, plural table-turnings)

(parapsychology) The practice, at a séance, of the participants sitting around a table with their hands upon it, waiting for it to rotate and spell out communications from spirits.


postcognition

postcognition (usually uncountable, plural postcognitions)


supergression

supergression (countable and uncountable, plural supergressions)

And soe with long leasure it will waste, / And not with bubbling made in haste: / For doubt of perrills many more then one, / And for supergression of our stone.

16th C., Thomas Norton, Ordinall (in Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum Brittanicum):


flood geology

(pseudoscience) The attempt to interpret and reconcile geological features of the Earth in accordance with a literal belief in the global flood described in Genesis.


mock silver

Compare modern Greek ψευδάργυρος (psevdárgyros, “zinc”).

cog

(obsolete, alchemy) A metal known to the ancients, possibly zinc.


Bologna stone

Specimens were found near Bologna in the 17th century by Vincenzo Casciarolo.

It was concerned with the causes of the phosphorescence of the so-called 'Bologna stone' (a mineral named by the author of the book with the more imposing term of litheosphorus).

2013, Marco Piccolino, Galileo's Visions: Piercing the spheres of the heavens by eye and mind:

(alchemy) The phosphorescent form of baryte.


asport

(parapsychology) An object that is spontaneously moved or "teleported" to another place.


ROGD

Anti-trans campaigners call this 'Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria' (ROGD) but there is no such phenomenon listed in clinical research. The only evidence for ROGD has come from a poorly designed study (Littman 2018) that has been criticised by its own university […]

2019, Sam Hope, Person-Centred Counselling for Trans and Gender Diverse People: A Practical Guide, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 51:

Michael Bailey and Ray Blanchard have expressed some preliminary thoughts based on interviews with mothers of ROGD children and clinicians […]

2020, Charles Murray, Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender, Race, and Class, Twelve, →ISBN:

rapid-onset gender dysphoria
rapid-onset gender dysphoria#English

(pseudoscience) Initialism of rapid-onset gender dysphoria, a supposed subset of gender dysphoria claimed to be caused by social influence of peers.


ectoplasmically

(parapsychology or cytology) In an ectoplasmic manner.


urine therapy

alternative medicine
alternative medicine

(pseudoscience, alternative medicine) The use of human urine for purported medicinal or cosmetic purposes.


white snow

Calque of Latin nix (“snow”) used for white forms of zinc oxide.

(alchemy, obsolete) Synonym of zinc oxide, particularly white forms.


SOCE

The suggestion that evangelical “ex-gay” ministries like Exodus have anything to do with health or happiness invites ... and secular LGBT-affirmative groups often characterize SOCE as a ploy of the political right to grant anti-gay agendas a ...

2013, John Fletcher, Preaching to Convert: Evangelical Outreach and Performance Activism in a Secular Age, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 263:

They apply to semiprofessional and professional practitioners who call themselves variously reparative therapists, SOCE (“sexual orientation change efforts”) therapists, ex-gay therapists, or conversion therapists, all who have one thing in ...

2014, Martin Kantor MD, Why a Gay Person Can't Be Made Un-Gay: The Truth About Reparative Therapies, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN:

However, therapists were hearing more and more horror stories about SOCE therapy from their clients.

2018, Chuck Stewart, Documents of the LGBT Movement, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN:

sexual orientation change efforts#English

(LGBT, pseudoscience) Initialism of sexual orientation change efforts.


hyperdiffusionism

(pseudoscience) Pseudoarchaeological hypothesis that postulated that historical technologies can be traced to a single civilization.


creationist orchard

Analogous to the tree of life, to which the diagram was created in opposition.

(pseudoscience) A diagram referenced by Christian creationists that illustrates the alleged origins of multiple unrelated created kinds of species.


citrinitas

(alchemy) A "yellowing" process, one of the four major stages of the alchemical magnum opus.


prima materia

From Latin prīma māteria (“first matter”).

The alchemist's initial encounter with the prima materia is characterized by feelings of frustration, bewilderment, disassociation and disintegration.

1976, Johannes Fabricius, Alchemy: The Medieval Alchemists and Their Royal Art:

(alchemy) The primitive formless base of all matter, which is the starting material required for the magnum opus and the creation of the philosopher's stone.


oscilloclast

That is to say, that the ailing human body would receive more vibration and a greater quantity of electricity from the work of a competent masseur using one hand than it would from a whole battery of oscilloclasts.

(pseudoscience, historical) A device that was supposed to diagnose cancer from tissue samples.


spirit photography

(parapsychology) The purported art of taking photographs of the spirits of dead people, other spiritual entities, ectoplasm, auras, and the like; a common practice in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially using black-and-white photography and the technique of double exposure.


psychic photography

"You'll find it very instructive, Malone, as bearing upon psychic photography and other matters."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019: