Map

element

Water

Nature · Elements

The fluid that falls, flows, and is drunk. Purification, flood, and softness are separate uses people have made of it.

object · 526

Alchemy

  • Overshot wheel is used in Water.

    Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary seats the waterwheel filled from above so water turns it by weight among mill wheels. A named overshot-wheel in that water-power craft, not an undershot-wheel and not a breastshot-wheel.

    from Edward H. Knight · American Mechanical Dictionary, 1876

    used in · sourced · documented

  • Undershot wheel is used in Water.

    Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary seats the waterwheel turned by a stream striking the lower paddles among mill wheels. A named undershot-wheel in that water-power craft, not an overshot-wheel and not a breastshot-wheel.

    from Edward H. Knight · American Mechanical Dictionary, 1876

    used in · sourced · documented

  • Suction pump is used in Water.

    Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary seats the pump that lifts water by creating a partial vacuum above a column among hydraulic machines. A named suction-pump in that water craft, not a force-pump pressure delivery alone and not a chain-pump.

    from Edward H. Knight · American Mechanical Dictionary, 1876

    used in · sourced · documented

European folklore

  • Bain-marie is used in Water.

    Beeton’s Book of Household Management seats the bain-marie among gentle hot-water baths for sauces, custards, and delicate heating in household cookery. A named bain-marie in that water-bath frame, not a crucible and not a bare cauldron dump.

    from Isabella Beeton · Book of Household Management, 1861

    used in · sourced · documented

  • Carafe is used in Water.

    Beeton’s Book of Household Management seats the carafe among open-necked table vessels for water (and sometimes wine) at household meals. A named carafe in that water-service frame, not a stoppered decanter and not a pitcher dump alone.

    from Isabella Beeton · Book of Household Management, 1861

    used in · sourced · documented

  • Gargoyle is historically related to Water.

    Parker’s Glossary seats the gargoyle as a projecting spout used in Gothic architecture to throw water from the gutter clear of the wall, often carved as a grotesque figure. A named gargoyle in that fabric speech, not a corbel support identity and not mere ornament without the spout job.

    from John Henry Parker · Glossary of Architecture, 1836 (and later enlarged editions)

    historically related to · sourced · documented

  • Water level is historically related to Water.

    Heather’s Treatise seats the water level among levelling instruments as a hollow brass tube filled with coloured water whose surfaces in end bottles give a horizontal line. A named water-level in that surveying speech, not a spirit level, not Gravatt’s/dumpy level, not an Abney level, and not a reflecting level alone.

    from J. F. Heather · Treatise on Mathematical Instruments, 1849 (and later PD editions)

    historically related to · sourced · documented

Shinto

  • Temizuya is used in Water.

    Chamberlain’s Shintō notes seat the temizuya as the shrine ablution pavilion for rinsing hands and mouth — water-purification use, not a bathhouse hammam dump.

    from Basil Hall Chamberlain · Things Japanese, 1890 (5th ed. 1905)

    used in · sourced · documented

  • Chōzubachi is used in Water.

    Chamberlain’s garden / shrine notes seat the chōzubachi as the stone water-basin for purification — basin use with water, not the full temizuya pavilion alone.

    from Basil Hall Chamberlain · Things Japanese, 1890 (5th ed. 1905)

    used in · sourced · documented

unknown · 410
    substance · 210
    place · 40

    Mesopotamian tradition

    • Water is associated with Underworld.

      Gilgamesh’s journeys include waters that bound the world of the dead and the far-away. Mesopotamian waters of the dead are not the Styx by another name until later readers say so.

      from Epic of Gilgamesh, c. 1200 BCE (this recension)

      associated with · partially sourced · documented

    Egyptian religion

    • Water is associated with Nile.

      The Nile is water as a named inundation. It is not Utnapishtim’s flood and not Daoist softness.

      associated with · interpretive · culturally specific

    Islam

    element · 33

    Alchemy

    • Distilled water is historically related to Water.

      Ruland’s Lexicon distinguishes simple distilled water from solvent / corrosive waters among chemist waters condensed after distillation. A named distilled-water in that aqueous-arcanum speech, not spirit of wine, and not oil of vitriol.

      from Martin Ruland the Elder · Lexicon Alchemiae, 1612

      historically related to · sourced · documented

    European folklore

    • Chlorine water is historically related to Water.

      Ure’s Dictionary seats chlorine water beside chlorine gas among energetic bleaching agents, and distinguishes humid chlorine from dry and from chloride-of-lime bleaching powder. A named chlorine-water in that aqueous-chlorine speech, not bleaching powder, and not eau-de-Javelle dump alone.

      from Andrew Ure · Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, 1839 (and later PD editions)

      historically related to · sourced · documented

    tradition · 11

    Daoism

    • Water appears in Daoism.

      Daoist writing often praises water’s lowliness and persistence. That is a Chinese philosophical use of water, not a flood epic.

      appears in · interpretive · culturally specific

    Norse tradition

    • Water appears in Norse tradition.

      Snorri’s Gylfaginning seats water among the wells under the ash and the Élivágar rivers of Niflheim. A named water in that prose, not well as the place-kind already walked and not a bare ocean dump alone.

      from Snorri Sturluson · Gylfaginning, c. 1220

      appears in · sourced · documented

    Shinto

    • Water appears in Shinto.

      The Kojiki has Izanagi purify himself in water after returning from Yomi, and the cosmogony stirs the sea at the world’s beginning. Named water as purification and cosmogonic medium in that compilation, not Nile belonging and not Daoist softness alone.

      from Ō no Yasumaro (compiler); Donald L. Philippi (translation) · Kojiki, 712 CE; Philippi trans. 1968

      appears in · sourced · documented

    Vedic tradition

    Roman religion

    • Water appears in Roman religion.

      Pliny’s Natural History seats water among the waters, rains, and seas of Book 2 natural philosophy and later water chapters. A named water in that encyclopedia, not brine as salt liquor already walked and not a flood-myth dump.

      from Pliny the Elder · Natural History, c. 77 CE

      appears in · sourced · documented

    Nahua tradition

    • Water appears in Nahua tradition.

      Sahagún’s Florentine Codex records atl among lakes, rain, purification, and Tlaloc-adjacent speech — named water as element and cult medium. A colonial-era Nahua ethnographic attestation, not a pan-Mesoamerican essence and not an unfiltered pre-invasion voice.

      from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577

      appears in · sourced · culturally specific

    Islam

    • Water appears in Islam.

      The Qur’an names water (māʾ) as the stuff from which living things were made, as rain provision, and as purity means. Islamic water speech in that revelation, not Nile belonging walks and not wudu as the ablution rite alone.

      from M.A.S. Abdel Haleem (translation) · The Qur’an, 2004 (this translation); Arabic text 7th century CE

      appears in · sourced · documented

    Chinese tradition

    Hellenic religion

    • Water appears in Hellenic religion.

      Pausanias names sacred springs, Styx water, and sanctuary water points among Greek cult itinerary. A named water in that periegesis, not river/well/styx already walked alone and not KF offerings churn.

      from Pausanias · Description of Greece, c. 150–180 CE

      appears in · sourced · documented

    Buddhist traditions

    • Water appears in Buddhist traditions.

      Watson’s Lotus Sūtra seats water among Buddha-land pools, Dharma-rain’s element, and purifying imagery. Water speech in that sūtra, not lotus→water plant ecology alone and not ordinary weather report.

      from Burton Watson (translation) · The Lotus Sutra, 1993 (this translation); Sanskrit/Chinese recensions much older

      appears in · sourced · documented

    Egyptian religion

    • Water appears in Egyptian religion.

      The Book of the Dead gives cool-water spells, purification water, and watery dangers in the Duat — named water speech in funerary cosmology, not Nile alone already walked and not a Plutarch Osiris-water sacred_to restatement.

      from Raymond O. Faulkner (translation) · Book of the Dead, New Kingdom spells; Faulkner trans. 1972

      appears in · sourced · culturally specific

    material · 5
    being · 4

    Chinese tradition

    • Chinese dragon is associated with Water.

      Chinese dragons are creatures of rain and watercourses in art and text. Not fire-breath as a European default.

      from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

      associated with · partially sourced · documented

    Shinto

    • Kappa is historically related to Water.

      Chamberlain seats the kappa as the water-sprite of Japanese rivers and ponds — water-being speech, not a tengu or oni dump.

      from Basil Hall Chamberlain · Things Japanese, 1890 (5th ed. 1905)

      historically related to · sourced · documented

    Celtic tradition

    • Each Uisge is historically related to Water.

      Keightley seats the each-uisge as the Highland water-horse — water-horse speech, not a kelpie synonym dump alone if keep-apart holds.

      from Thomas Keightley · The Fairy Mythology, 1828 (enlarged PD eds. mid-19th c.)

      historically related to · sourced · documented

    European folklore

    • Rusalka is historically related to Water.

      Keightley seats the rusalka among Slavic water maidens — water-maiden speech, not a mermaid Western dump alone.

      from Thomas Keightley · The Fairy Mythology, 1828 (enlarged PD eds. mid-19th c.)

      historically related to · sourced · documented

    color · 3

    • Blue is associated with Water.

      Water is often named blue in ordinary speech. The likeness is optical and local, not a cult.

      associated with · interpretive · culturally specific

    • Teal is historically related to Water.

      In Beeton's Book of Household Management, Teal is listed among the trade lemmas and sits with Water.

      from Isabella Beeton · Book of Household Management, 1861

      historically related to · sourced · documented

    • Folium is used in Water.

      In Theophilus’s Divers Arts, purple or blue folium is poured with water tempering without lime — the colour is not ground, but washed on with the same aqueous temper.

      from Theophilus Presbyter · On Divers Arts, c. early 12th century

      used in · sourced · documented

    concept · 2

    Mesopotamian tradition

    • Water is associated with Flood.

      The Gilgamesh flood is water as world-covering disaster, survived by Utnapishtim. It is not baptism and not Daoist softness.

      from Epic of Gilgamesh, c. 1200 BCE (this recension)

      associated with · sourced · documented

    Alchemy

    • Water is associated with Transformation.

      Alchemical work uses dissolution. Water here is a solvent in a craft, not Utnapishtim’s flood.

      from Tabula Smaragdina (Emerald Tablet), medieval Latin tradition (Arabic antecedents)

      associated with · partially sourced · culturally specific

    plant · 2
    practice · 2

    Hellenic religion

    • Water is associated with Offerings.

      Greek cult used lustral water and libation. Purification by water at an altar is not the same act as a Vedic fire offering.

      from Pausanias · Description of Greece, c. 150–180 CE

      associated with · partially sourced · documented

    • Water is used in Medicine.

      Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica treats waters (sea, rain, spring, and boiled) among vehicles and simple drugs with distinct pharmaceutical jobs. A named water in that handbook, not baptism or purity symbolism and not wine/vinegar as liquid vehicles left unpublished here.

      from Pedanius Dioscorides · De Materia Medica, 1st century CE

      used in · sourced · documented

    animal · 1

    • Serpent is associated with Water.

      Snakes swim and live at wells and rivers in many local stories. The association is ecological and folkloric, not a single sacred water-serpent.

      associated with · interpretive · culturally specific

    celestial-body · 1

    • Moon is associated with Water.

      Many later readers join moon and tide. The pairing is widespread in maritime observation; it is not therefore a religious law.

      associated with · interpretive · modern interpretation

    deity · 1

    Egyptian religion

    • Water is sacred to Osiris.

      Plutarch’s On Isis and Osiris seats moisture and water with Osiris against Typhon’s dry sea-salt portion — water as Osiris’s element in that essay’s allegory. A named water–Osiris cult/element link under this source, not Nile alone and not a generic purity dump.

      from Plutarch · On Isis and Osiris, c. 100 CE

      sacred to · sourced · culturally specific

    phenomenon · 1

    • Rain is connected to Water.

      Rain is water arriving from the sky. The identity is material.

      connected to · interpretive · documented

    ritual · 1

    • Mikveh is used in Water.

      JE MIḲWEH seats the ritual bath as a collected mass of water built to immerse the body for purification — mikveh water use, not a Christian baptism flatten.

      from Isidore Singer et al. · The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901–1906

      used in · sourced · documented

    symbol · 1

    sources