On this latter meaning, then, an increase in body is an increase in length and width—that is, in magnitude; on the former meaning, it is an increase in the measured, described thing itself.

It may also be said, “This cloth has body,” meaning thickness and substance. Neither air nor the breath issuing from a human being’s mouth (1), nor anything of that sort, is called a body in their usage (2).

By contrast, among speculative theologians and philosophers, “body” has a broader meaning than this, just as the word jawhar (substance) has a narrower meaning in ordinary language than in their technical usage. By jawhar they mean that which subsists in itself, that which occupies space, or that which, if it exists, does not exist in a locus (3)—that is, in a substrate independent of it. In ordinary language, however, jawhar means the familiar jewel.

They sometimes define a body as that which can be pointed to, or as that which admits (4) sensory indication as being here or there. They may also define it as that which admits the three dimensions—length, width, and depth—or as that which possesses the three dimensions: length, width, and depth (5).

In their technical usage, the term “dimension”—length (6), width, and depth—is broader than