spagyrical, adj.

[goliard]

1. Of or pertaining to alchemy. 2. Of persons: Given to the study or practice of alchemy; believing in alchemy.

< early mod. L. spagiricus (used, and prob. invented, by Paracelsus) [OED]

How or why Paracelsus came to invent this word, the OED doesn't say.

One of Joseph Needham's Science and Civilization in China volumes is titled Spagyrical

Comments

[ihcoyc]

Paracelsus seems to have had a knack for coining new words: laudanum, paregoric, and opodeldoc.