Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ARCH-E'US, n. [Gr. αρχη, beginning, or αρχος, a chief; W. erchi.]

A term used by the ancient chimists to denote the internal efficient cause of all things; the anima mundi or plastic power of the old philosophers; the power that presides over the animal economy, or the vis medicatrix; the active principle of the material world. In medicine, good health, or ancient practice. – Johnson. Encyc. Coxe.