Dictionary of Shakespeare

Shakespeare Dictionary

AcePilots Main Page

This is an extremely selective and personal dictionary of troublesome words I have found in Shakespeare. It is limited to words that have fallen out of use, OR whose meanings have changed over the centuries. "Power" is an excellent example of this second category; in Shakespeare, it normally refers to an army.
Other words, like "pelican" and "willow" have lost the strong symbolic meaning that they had in Shakespeare's day. Most modern readers (myself included) would need a dictionary of mythology to understand that "pelicans" allegedly pecked open their mothers' breasts to feed.

Words like 'store' usually mean the same thing they mean now, but sometimes mean something a little different. In the example, 'store' means 'material, substance, stuff', as opposed to 'a supply of stuff'. Subtly, but distinctly different.

The table shows Shakespeare's word, it meaning (in the sample usage), "#" - its relative frequency, reference(s) to the word's use in well-known plays, and a sample usage, in context.

The middle column "#" is the number of times the word is found in Shakespeare (based on an Internet Shakespeare query service, not on exhaustive scholarly research). It is only shown to give a sense of how often the word appears.

Go to other Shakespeare Dictionary sections: M - P, Q - Z

Shakespeare's word

Meaning (in the sample usage)

#

Reference(s)

Sample usage

addition

title; epithet;

Anything added; increase; augmentation; an improvement
28

Lear 2.2;

Oth 3.4

if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition

And think it no addition, nor my wish, To have him see me woman'd.

advocation

plea; advocacy

1

Oth 3.4

My advocation is not now in tune

affect

choose, show fondness for

23

Oth 3.3

Two 3.1

Not to affect many proposed matches

There is a lady in Verona here / Whom I affect; but she is nice and coy

affined

joined in affinity or by any tie

3

Oth 1.1

Whether I in any just term am affined / To love the Moor.

affy

betroth

1

2 HVI 4.1

daring to affy a mighty lord unto the dau…

aglet-baby

small figure forming the tag of a lace, frequently a death's head

Shrew

alarum

call to arms with trumpets etc.

16

Rich III 1.1

2 HVI 2.3

... stern alarums changed to merry meetings

Sound, trumpets, alarum to the combatants

anatomize

dissect

6

Lear 3.6

Then let them anatomize Regan

appeal

accuse, charge with a crime,

(also in the modern sense)

20

Rich II 1.1

make good the boisterous late appeal

approve

prove, confirm

52

Lear 2.4;

Lear 3.5;

Oth 2.3

this approves her letter

which approves him an intelligent party …

If consequence do but approve my dream

aroint

stand off, or begone

3

Lear 3.4

And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee!

attempt

attack, military venture

47

Lear 2.2

2 HIV 4.2

MWW 4.2

For him attempting who was self-subdued

We have supplies to second our attempt

Mrs Page: [Falstaff] will never, I think, in the way of waste, attempt us again.

attend

await, wait upon

181

Lear 2.1

messengers from hence attend dispatch

baffle

cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant knight

check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or defeat; to thwart.
5

1. Rich II 1.1

1 HIV 1.2
2 HIV 5.3

1. I am disgraced, impeach'd and baffled here

an I do not, call me villain and baffle me.
And shall good news be baffled?

baggage

strumpet, prostitute, woman of loose morals

9

Shrew Ind.

MWW 4.2

Ye are a baggage: the Slys are no rogues;

you witch, you hag, you baggage, you ...

bags

money-bags, wealth

Shrew

balk

chop

Shrew 1.1

barm

froth on ale

1

Mids 2.1

make the drink to bear no barm

bawcock

fine fellow, literally fine bird

4

TN 3.4

how now, my bawcock! how dost thou, chuck?

bemadding

maddening, infuriating

1

Lear 3.1

Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow The king hath cause to plain.

bestraught

distracted, out of one's mind

Shrew Ind.

bewray

reveal, expose, give away

7

Lear 2.1

3 HVI 1.1

He did bewray his practise.

... the queen, whose looks bewray her anger

blank

center of a target or interest

a paper containing the substance of a legal instrument, with spaces left for names, date, etc.
18
Oth 3.4
Lear 1.1

Rich II 2.1

stood within the blank of his displeasure

let ... me remain / The true blank of thine eye

new exactions are devised, / As blanks, benevolences, and I wot not what

bolted, bolt

refined, high quality,

sifted, as in flour - the original sense (see unbolted)
11
Henry V 2.2
Cor 3.3

1 HIV 3.3

so finely bolted didst thou seem

is ill school'd in bolted language

I have given them away to bakers' wives, and they have made bolters of them.

botcher

tailor who does repairs

1

TN 1.4

let the botcher mend him

bottled

swollen

(many other uses of 'bottle' in the modern sense)

2

Rich III 1.3

Rich III 4.4

bottled spider

That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad!

brach

bitch hound

5

Lear 3.6

1 HIV 3.1

Truth's a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped out, when Lady the brach may stand by the fire and stink.

... rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish.

brakes

a thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns

16

Mids 2.1

hide me in the brakes

brave

fine, handsome

( the noted references are to this meaning, but WS also used in modern sense of gallant & courageous)

149

Shrew Ind.

1 HIV 1.2

Mids 3.2

Lear 3.2

And brave attendants near him when ...

O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge.

hast thou kill'd him sleeping? O brave touch!

This is a brave night to cool a courtezan.

breathe, -ing
live, living
breathe, in modern sense
say, vocalize
103
Shrew 1.1
Rich III 1.1
3 HVI 4.1 What's here? one dead, or drunk? See, doth he breathe?
sent before my time/into this breathing world
durst the traitor breathe out so proud words?

breeching

of a young boy

Shrew 3.1

bug

bugbear, hobgoblin

5

Shrew 1.2

3 HVI 5.2

Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs.

For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all.

caitiff

base; wicked and mean; cowardly; despicable;
from the original meaning of "captive; wretched; unfortunate, slave"

13

Lear 3.2

Rich II 1.2

Meas 2.1

That art incestuous: caitiff, to pieces shake,

A caitiff recreant to my cousin Hereford!

O thou caitiff! O thou varlet! O thou wicked

capable

usually in modern sense, but once -- legally able to inherit, legitimize

16

Lear 2.1

I'll work the means To make thee capable.

When I was in college, struggling through my Signet volume of Shakespeare, I didn't have the time, money, or inclination to buy audio tapes of the plays. I've done so recently, and what a difference.

In part, because Shakespeare was meant to be heard (and seen), and in part, because the English language has changed, listening to King Lear, or any of the plays, while reading the text, adds a whole new dimension.

The humor becomes clearer; anger is better conveyed; the reader/listener at once can absorb so much more of the play. For King Lear, this version with Sir Laurence Olivier is excellent.

catch

song

8

TN 2.3

rouse the night-owl in a catch that will draw three souls out ...

character

handwriting; written letters and words

30

Lear 2.1

Rich III 3.1

As You 3.2

thou didst produce My very character,

I say, without characters, fame lives long.

these trees shall be my books / And in their barks my thoughts I'll character;

check
rebuke
restrain, hold back
38

Lear 2.2;

Oth 3.3
The good king, his master, will check him

To incur a private check

cheveril

kid leather

3

TN 3.1

but a cheveril glove to a good wit

chuck

affectionate term

A&C 4.4

No, my chuck. Eros, come; mine armour, Eros!

clout

a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag; a target

(clouted shoes have been understood by some to mean shoes armed with nails; by others, patched shoes)

9

2 HVI 4.2

2 HIV 3.2

LLL 4.1

Cym 4.2

Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon;

clapped i' the clout at twelve score

must shoot nearer, or he'll ne'er hit the clout

put / My clouted brogues from off my feet, whose rudeness/ Answer'd my steps too loud.

cog

deceive

10

MWW

Oth 4.2

I cannot cog, I cannot prate

some cogging cozening slave

coil

trouble

11

Mids 3.2

Ham 3.1

all this coil is 'long of you

shuffled off this mortal coil

coistrel, coystrill

groom, low fellow

2

TN 1.3

he's a coward and a coystrill that will not drink to my niece

collied

darkened, as with coal

2

Mids 1.1

Oth 2.3

Brief as the lightning in the collied night

... passion, having my best judgment collied

colour
hue, shade, tint; flag (the usual, modern usage)
shade or variety of character; kind; species
pretense
133
many

Lear 2.2

3 HVI 4.5
many

a fellow of the self-same colour / Our sister speaks of. Come, bring away the stocks.
he make his way / Under the colour of his usual game

competitor partner Ant 1.4.431 It is not Caesar's Natural vice, to hate
Our great Competitor.

compound
amicably settle
mixture
34

Shrew 1.2

Henry V 4.3

MWW 3.5
rise: we will compound this quarrel.
If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound

there was the rankest compound of villanous smell

consort

gang, mob (derogatory)

11

Lear 2.1

Was he not companion with the riotous knights that tend upon my father?

Yes, madam, he was of that consort.

cony-catch

cheat, swindle; literally 'rabbit-poach'

3

MWW 1.1

your cony-catching rascals, Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol

coranto

fast, skipping dance

3

TN 1.3

… not go to church in a galliard and come home in a coranto?

couch

sleep, retire

20

Lear 3.1

MWW 5.5

This night, wherein the bear would couch

I'll wink and couch:

cousin-german

relative, kinsman (see germen)

(note pun in MWW, on "cheating Teutons")

1

T & C 4.5

MWW 4.5

my father's sister's son, / A cousin-german to great Priam's seed;

there is three cozen-germans that has cozened all the hosts

cozier

cobbler

1

TN 2.3

that ye squeak out your coziers' catches without any mitigation or remorse of voice?

croak

the raven's hoarse call, (all 4 WS uses include a raven)

4

Lear 3.6

Hopdance cries in Tom's belly for two white herring. Croak not, black angel; I have no food for thee.

crowner

coroner

2

TN 1.5

Go thou and seek the crowner, and let him sit o' my coz

cubiculo

bedroom (Ital.)

1

TN 3.2

We'll call thee at thy cubiculo

cunning

well-qualified, skillful; (but usually with modern undertones of craftiness)

79

Shrew 1.1

1 HVI 2.1

get her cunning schoolmasters to instruct her

Is this thy cunning, thou deceitful dame?

deal of

quantity of, greatness of, superiority of

17

Lear 2.2

1 HIV 1.3

1 HIV 2.4

And put upon him such a deal of man, / That worthied him, got praises of the king

what a candy deal of courtesy

this intolerable deal of sack

delations accusations 1 Oth 3.3 but in a man that's just
They are close delations, working from the heart
That passion cannot rule.

denay

denial

1

TN 2.4

My love can give no place, bide no denay.

denier

small French coin, 1/12^th of a sou

3

Rich III 1.2

My dukedom to a beggarly denier

descant

comment

4

Rich III 1.1

and descant on mine own deformity

deserving

reward, merit, desert

(noted here as a noun, more often as gerund/adj.)

19

Lear 3.3

Oth 1.3

This seems a fair deserving,

I confess me knit to thy deserving with cables of perdurable toughness

diaper

towel

1

Shrew Ind.

Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper

dispatch

verb -
make haste verb
- send noun -
dismissal

74

Rich III 3.4

Lear 2.1

Dispatch, my lord; the duke would be at dinner: … he longs to see your head.

messenger from hence attend dispatch

draw

draw to

Lear 3.3

and must draw me That which my father loses;

dread, dreadful

terror, fear, awe

reverential or respectful fear; awe

112

Rich III 1.1

Rich III 3.1

Rich II 1.1

2 HVI 5.1

dreadful marches

Well, my dread lord; so must I call you now

Myself I throw, dread sovereign, at thy foot.

A messenger from Henry, our dread liege,

dulcet

pleasing to the ear, melodious

6

Mids 2.1

Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath

embossed

1) arise the surface of into bosses or protuberances,

2 ) foaming at the mouth (uncertain etymology)

7

Lear 2.4

Shrew Ind.

thou art a boil, A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle

Brach Merriman, the poor cur is emboss'd

entertainment

reception

39

TN 1.5

The rudeness that hath appeared in me have I learned from my entertainment

exsufflicate

windy, puffed up, empty, frivolous

1

Oth 3.3

exsufflicate and blown surmises

Only used by Shakespeare, and only in this instance, presumably an invented word. One of my all-time personal favorites, a word that should be revived.

fadge

turn out

2

TN 2.2

How will this fadge?

farm

lease or let for an equivalent, as land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds

12

Rich II 1.4

We are inforced to farm our royal realm

fault

usually in the modern sense, but also: break in the scent (hunting)

250

Shrew Ind.

Lear 1.1

V&A 114

Silver made it good /At the hedge-corner, in the coldest fault? /I would not lose the dog for twenty pound.

Do you smell a fault?

Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have singled/ With much ado the cold fault cleanly out;

fell

galled, angry, melancholy

142

Mids 2.1

For Oberon is passing fell and wrath

fet

fetch, get

3

Henry V 3.1

Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof

fetches

excuses, tricks, evasions

1

Lear 2.4

They are sick? they are weary? They have travell'd all the night? Mere fetches;

fleshment

excitement, battle-heat, pumped up

1

Lear 2.2

in the fleshment of this dread exploit

flews

pendulous or overhanging lateral parts of the upper lip of dogs, especially prominent in hounds

1

Mids

My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, / So flew'd

fond

foolish, (used only 3 times in modern sense, to be "fond of someone" )

75

Mids

Rich III 3.4

out of breath in this fond chase

For I, too fond, might have prevented this.

foot

To set on foot; to establish; to land

Lear 3.3;

Oth 2.1

there's part of a power already footed;

Whose footing here anticipates our thoughts

footed

walked

Lear 3.4

Withold footed thrice the old

fret
wear away, scrape out?
waste away; worry
noun - part of a lute

32

Rich II 4.3

1 HIV 1.2

Shrew 2.1

Till they have fretted us a pair of graves

and he frets like a gummed velvet

Twas a commodity lay fretting by you

from

away from

Lear 2.1

I least thought it fit To answer from our home

furnishing

outward signs

1

Lear 3.1

perchance these are but furnishings

fustian

wretched, (cheap cloth?)

3

TN 2.5

A fustian riddle!

galliard

lively five-step dance, ending in a leap

4

TN 1.3

why dost thou not go to church in a galliard

gallow

scare, frighten, terrify

1

Lear 3.2

the wrathful skies Gallow the very wanderers of the dark,

gamut

musical scale (all in Shrew 3.1)

4

Shrew 3.1

To teach you gamut in a briefer sort

garboils, garboyles uproars, disorders Ant 1.1.372 Look here, and at thy Sovereign leisure read
The Garboyles she awak'd:

gaskins

loose breeches

1

TN 1.4

if both break, your gaskins fall.

gasted

terrified

1

Lear 2.1

Or whether gasted by the noise I made,

germens, -ans

seeds, embryos, offspring

7

Lear 3.2

Oth 1.1

Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill …

coursers for cousins and jennets for germans

gleek

play practical jokes

4

Mids 3.1

I can gleek upon occasion

glose

flatter; wheedle; fawn; talk smoothly

1

Rich II

they whom youth and ease have taught to glose

goodman

husband, commoner?

14

Shrew Ind.

Are you my wife and will not call me husband? / … I am your goodman.

got

begot, (also in modern sense)

Lear 2.1

I never got him.

grin

show one's teeth, grimace

11

2 HVI 3.3

the pangs of death do make him grin

halcyon

kingfisher

2

Lear 2.2

turn their halcyon beaks / With every gale …

hale

haul, drag

14

TN 3.3

I think oxen and wain-ropes cannot hale them together

halt

limp

19

Rich III 1.1

dogs bark at me as I halt by them

halter

a noose, a rope for hanging malefactors

9

Lear 3.4

TA 5.1

that hath laid knives under his pillow, and halters in his pew

A halter, soldiers! hang him on this tree.

heavy

sorrowful, (infrequently used in the sense of 'weight', and then usually with some pun on sorrow)

218

Rich III 1.3

1 HIV 1.1

1 HIV 5.3

Thou slander of thy mother's heavy womb!

A post from Wales loaden with heavy news

I am as hot as moulten lead, and as heavy too

hefted

furnished with a handle: thus, finished off, delicately formed

1

Lear 2.4

Regan ... thy tender-hefted nature shall not give thee over to harshness

high-cross

market cross in the center of town

1

Shrew 1.1

whipped at the high cross every morning.

honest chaste, pure many Oth 3.3 I do not think but Desdemona's honest

"Honest" is another value-laden, complex word, especially as used in Othello, with its many references to "Honest Iago".

housewife

hussy, prostitute

13

Oth 4.1

Bianca, a housewife, that by selling her desires

imp

graft with new feathers, as a wing; to splice a broken feather. hence, fig.: repair; to extend; increase; strengthen

5

Rich II
Imp out our drooping country's broken wing

impeach

dishonor; discredit; call in question

10

Mids

You do impeach your modesty too much

inherit

put in posession of; accept, believe, entertain

Rich II

It must be great that can inherit us

intermission

pause, delay

4

Lear 2.4

Deliver'd letters, spite of intermission

jealousy

concern (as used here, but usually "envy")

TN 3.3

But jealousy what might befall your travel,

kerns

light-armed Irish or Scottish foot soldier; distinguished from gallowglass,
often used as a term of contempt

8

Rich II 2.1

2 HVI 3.1

2 HVI 3.1

supplant those rough rug-headed kerns

The uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms.

like a shag-hair'd crafty kern

kickshaws

trifle (Fr. quelque-choses)

2

TN 1.3

Art thou good at these kickshawses, knight?

knap

strike smartly, snap, knock

2

Lear 2.4

she knapped ‘em o’ the coxcombs

lanthorn

lantern (all but once in Mids)

8

Mids 5.1

This lanthorn doth the horned moon present

leman

sweetheart

3

TN 2.3

I sent thee sixpence for thy leman: hadst it?

lime

snare, trap (used 12 times in this sense)

12

2 HVI 1.3

myself have limed a bush for her

list
listen

objective, goal; desire

60
Lear 5.3
TN 3.1
MWW 2.2
List a brief tale;
she is the list of my voyage.
go to bed when she list, rise when she list

lour

threaten darkly, scowl

9

Rich III 1.1

Rich II 1.3

clouds that loured upon our house

This louring tempest of your home-bred hate

lym

bloodhound

1

Lear 3.6

Hound or spaniel, brach or lym,

The most comprehensive work on this topic is Alexander Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon, a typical turn-of-the-century tome, carried out with Teutonic thoroughness. I wonder how the pre-computer-era scholars tackled projects like this; lots of index cards and infinite patience, I suppose.

Incredibly, the book provides EVERY instance of EVERY word, in context, used by Shakespeare. In any event, for anyone who really enjoys Shakespeare, it's fun to pore over this "volume of forgotten lore," read all the occurrences of "housewife", for example, and ponder the subtle differences of meaning from one usage to the next.

You can order Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary (Vol. 1 A-M) by Alexander Schmidt (a Dover re-print, 1985) from Amazon.com. Please note that this is only Volume 1, A-M. (You can find Schmidt's second volume on the next page.)

Go To Shakespeare Dictionary, M-Z

Visit my site:

Family History
Visit my other site:

American Aces of
World War Two

E-mail me: admin -at- acepilots -dot- com

Shakespeare's word	Meaning (in the sample usage)	#	Reference(s)	Sample usage
addition	title; epithet; Anything added; increase; augmentation; an improvement	28	Lear 2.2; Oth 3.4	if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition And think it no addition, nor my wish, To have him see me woman'd.
advocation	plea; advocacy	1	Oth 3.4	My advocation is not now in tune
affect	choose, show fondness for	23	Oth 3.3 Two 3.1	Not to affect many proposed matches There is a lady in Verona here / Whom I affect; but she is nice and coy
affined	joined in affinity or by any tie	3	Oth 1.1	Whether I in any just term am affined / To love the Moor.
affy	betroth	1	2 HVI 4.1	daring to affy a mighty lord unto the dau…
aglet-baby	small figure forming the tag of a lace, frequently a death's head		Shrew
alarum	call to arms with trumpets etc.	16	Rich III 1.1 2 HVI 2.3	... stern alarums changed to merry meetings Sound, trumpets, alarum to the combatants
anatomize	dissect	6	Lear 3.6	Then let them anatomize Regan
appeal	accuse, charge with a crime, (also in the modern sense)	20	Rich II 1.1	make good the boisterous late appeal
approve	prove, confirm	52	Lear 2.4; Lear 3.5; Oth 2.3	this approves her letter which approves him an intelligent party … If consequence do but approve my dream
aroint	stand off, or begone	3	Lear 3.4	And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee!
attempt	attack, military venture	47	Lear 2.2 2 HIV 4.2 MWW 4.2	For him attempting who was self-subdued We have supplies to second our attempt Mrs Page: [Falstaff] will never, I think, in the way of waste, attempt us again.
attend	await, wait upon	181	Lear 2.1	messengers from hence attend dispatch
baffle	cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant knight check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or defeat; to thwart.	5	1. Rich II 1.1 1 HIV 1.2 2 HIV 5.3	1. I am disgraced, impeach'd and baffled here an I do not, call me villain and baffle me. And shall good news be baffled?
baggage	strumpet, prostitute, woman of loose morals	9	Shrew Ind. MWW 4.2	Ye are a baggage: the Slys are no rogues; you witch, you hag, you baggage, you ...
bags	money-bags, wealth		Shrew
balk	chop		Shrew 1.1
barm	froth on ale	1	Mids 2.1	make the drink to bear no barm
bawcock	fine fellow, literally fine bird	4	TN 3.4	how now, my bawcock! how dost thou, chuck?
bemadding	maddening, infuriating	1	Lear 3.1	Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow The king hath cause to plain.
bestraught	distracted, out of one's mind		Shrew Ind.
bewray	reveal, expose, give away	7	Lear 2.1 3 HVI 1.1	He did bewray his practise. ... the queen, whose looks bewray her anger
blank	center of a target or interest a paper containing the substance of a legal instrument, with spaces left for names, date, etc.	18	Oth 3.4 Lear 1.1 Rich II 2.1	stood within the blank of his displeasure let ... me remain / The true blank of thine eye new exactions are devised, / As blanks, benevolences, and I wot not what
bolted, bolt	refined, high quality, sifted, as in flour - the original sense (see unbolted)	11	Henry V 2.2 Cor 3.3 1 HIV 3.3	so finely bolted didst thou seem is ill school'd in bolted language I have given them away to bakers' wives, and they have made bolters of them.
botcher	tailor who does repairs	1	TN 1.4	let the botcher mend him
bottled	swollen (many other uses of 'bottle' in the modern sense)	2	Rich III 1.3 Rich III 4.4	bottled spider That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad!
brach	bitch hound	5	Lear 3.6 1 HIV 3.1	Truth's a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped out, when Lady the brach may stand by the fire and stink. ... rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish.
brakes	a thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns	16	Mids 2.1	hide me in the brakes
brave	fine, handsome ( the noted references are to this meaning, but WS also used in modern sense of gallant & courageous)	149	Shrew Ind. 1 HIV 1.2 Mids 3.2 Lear 3.2	And brave attendants near him when ... O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge. hast thou kill'd him sleeping? O brave touch! This is a brave night to cool a courtezan.
breathe, -ing	live, living breathe, in modern sense say, vocalize	103	Shrew 1.1 Rich III 1.1 3 HVI 4.1	What's here? one dead, or drunk? See, doth he breathe? sent before my time/into this breathing world durst the traitor breathe out so proud words?
breeching	of a young boy		Shrew 3.1
bug	bugbear, hobgoblin	5	Shrew 1.2 3 HVI 5.2	Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs. For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all.
caitiff	base; wicked and mean; cowardly; despicable; from the original meaning of "captive; wretched; unfortunate, slave"	13	Lear 3.2 Rich II 1.2 Meas 2.1	That art incestuous: caitiff, to pieces shake, A caitiff recreant to my cousin Hereford! O thou caitiff! O thou varlet! O thou wicked
capable	usually in modern sense, but once -- legally able to inherit, legitimize	16	Lear 2.1	I'll work the means To make thee capable.

catch	song	8	TN 2.3	rouse the night-owl in a catch that will draw three souls out ...
character	handwriting; written letters and words	30	Lear 2.1 Rich III 3.1 As You 3.2	thou didst produce My very character, I say, without characters, fame lives long. these trees shall be my books / And in their barks my thoughts I'll character;
check	rebuke restrain, hold back	38	Lear 2.2; Oth 3.3	The good king, his master, will check him To incur a private check
cheveril	kid leather	3	TN 3.1	but a cheveril glove to a good wit
chuck	affectionate term		A&C 4.4	No, my chuck. Eros, come; mine armour, Eros!
clout	a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag; a target (clouted shoes have been understood by some to mean shoes armed with nails; by others, patched shoes)	9	2 HVI 4.2 2 HIV 3.2 LLL 4.1 Cym 4.2	Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon; clapped i' the clout at twelve score must shoot nearer, or he'll ne'er hit the clout put / My clouted brogues from off my feet, whose rudeness/ Answer'd my steps too loud.
cog	deceive	10	MWW Oth 4.2	I cannot cog, I cannot prate some cogging cozening slave
coil	trouble	11	Mids 3.2 Ham 3.1	all this coil is 'long of you shuffled off this mortal coil
coistrel, coystrill	groom, low fellow	2	TN 1.3	he's a coward and a coystrill that will not drink to my niece
collied	darkened, as with coal	2	Mids 1.1 Oth 2.3	Brief as the lightning in the collied night ... passion, having my best judgment collied
colour	hue, shade, tint; flag (the usual, modern usage) shade or variety of character; kind; species pretense	133	many Lear 2.2 3 HVI 4.5	many a fellow of the self-same colour / Our sister speaks of. Come, bring away the stocks. he make his way / Under the colour of his usual game
competitor	partner		Ant 1.4.431	It is not Caesar's Natural vice, to hate Our great Competitor.
compound	amicably settle mixture	34	Shrew 1.2 Henry V 4.3 MWW 3.5	rise: we will compound this quarrel. If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound there was the rankest compound of villanous smell
consort	gang, mob (derogatory)	11	Lear 2.1	Was he not companion with the riotous knights that tend upon my father? Yes, madam, he was of that consort.
cony-catch	cheat, swindle; literally 'rabbit-poach'	3	MWW 1.1	your cony-catching rascals, Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol
coranto	fast, skipping dance	3	TN 1.3	… not go to church in a galliard and come home in a coranto?
couch	sleep, retire	20	Lear 3.1 MWW 5.5	This night, wherein the bear would couch I'll wink and couch:
cousin-german	relative, kinsman (see germen) (note pun in MWW, on "cheating Teutons")	1	T & C 4.5 MWW 4.5	my father's sister's son, / A cousin-german to great Priam's seed; there is three cozen-germans that has cozened all the hosts
cozier	cobbler	1	TN 2.3	that ye squeak out your coziers' catches without any mitigation or remorse of voice?
croak	the raven's hoarse call, (all 4 WS uses include a raven)	4	Lear 3.6	Hopdance cries in Tom's belly for two white herring. Croak not, black angel; I have no food for thee.
crowner	coroner	2	TN 1.5	Go thou and seek the crowner, and let him sit o' my coz
cubiculo	bedroom (Ital.)	1	TN 3.2	We'll call thee at thy cubiculo
cunning	well-qualified, skillful; (but usually with modern undertones of craftiness)	79	Shrew 1.1 1 HVI 2.1	get her cunning schoolmasters to instruct her Is this thy cunning, thou deceitful dame?
deal of	quantity of, greatness of, superiority of	17	Lear 2.2 1 HIV 1.3 1 HIV 2.4	And put upon him such a deal of man, / That worthied him, got praises of the king what a candy deal of courtesy this intolerable deal of sack
delations	accusations	1	Oth 3.3	but in a man that's just They are close delations, working from the heart That passion cannot rule.
denay	denial	1	TN 2.4	My love can give no place, bide no denay.
denier	small French coin, 1/12^th of a sou	3	Rich III 1.2	My dukedom to a beggarly denier
descant	comment	4	Rich III 1.1	and descant on mine own deformity
deserving	reward, merit, desert (noted here as a noun, more often as gerund/adj.)	19	Lear 3.3 Oth 1.3	This seems a fair deserving, I confess me knit to thy deserving with cables of perdurable toughness
diaper	towel	1	Shrew Ind.	Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper
dispatch	verb - make haste verb - send noun - dismissal	74	Rich III 3.4 Lear 2.1	Dispatch, my lord; the duke would be at dinner: … he longs to see your head. messenger from hence attend dispatch
draw	draw to		Lear 3.3	and must draw me That which my father loses;
dread, dreadful	terror, fear, awe reverential or respectful fear; awe	112	Rich III 1.1 Rich III 3.1 Rich II 1.1 2 HVI 5.1	dreadful marches Well, my dread lord; so must I call you now Myself I throw, dread sovereign, at thy foot. A messenger from Henry, our dread liege,
dulcet	pleasing to the ear, melodious	6	Mids 2.1	Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
embossed	1) arise the surface of into bosses or protuberances, 2 ) foaming at the mouth (uncertain etymology)	7	Lear 2.4 Shrew Ind.	thou art a boil, A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle Brach Merriman, the poor cur is emboss'd
entertainment	reception	39	TN 1.5	The rudeness that hath appeared in me have I learned from my entertainment
exsufflicate	windy, puffed up, empty, frivolous	1	Oth 3.3	exsufflicate and blown surmises
exsufflicate	Only used by Shakespeare, and only in this instance, presumably an invented word. One of my all-time personal favorites, a word that should be revived.
fadge	turn out	2	TN 2.2	How will this fadge?
farm	lease or let for an equivalent, as land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds	12	Rich II 1.4	We are inforced to farm our royal realm
fault	usually in the modern sense, but also: break in the scent (hunting)	250	Shrew Ind. Lear 1.1 V&A 114	Silver made it good /At the hedge-corner, in the coldest fault? /I would not lose the dog for twenty pound. Do you smell a fault? Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have singled/ With much ado the cold fault cleanly out;
fell	galled, angry, melancholy	142	Mids 2.1	For Oberon is passing fell and wrath
fet	fetch, get	3	Henry V 3.1	Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof
fetches	excuses, tricks, evasions	1	Lear 2.4	They are sick? they are weary? They have travell'd all the night? Mere fetches;
fleshment	excitement, battle-heat, pumped up	1	Lear 2.2	in the fleshment of this dread exploit
flews	pendulous or overhanging lateral parts of the upper lip of dogs, especially prominent in hounds	1	Mids	My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, / So flew'd
fond	foolish, (used only 3 times in modern sense, to be "fond of someone" )	75	Mids Rich III 3.4	out of breath in this fond chase For I, too fond, might have prevented this.
foot	To set on foot; to establish; to land		Lear 3.3; Oth 2.1	there's part of a power already footed; Whose footing here anticipates our thoughts
footed	walked		Lear 3.4	Withold footed thrice the old
fret	wear away, scrape out? waste away; worry noun - part of a lute	32	Rich II 4.3 1 HIV 1.2 Shrew 2.1	Till they have fretted us a pair of graves and he frets like a gummed velvet Twas a commodity lay fretting by you
from	away from		Lear 2.1	I least thought it fit To answer from our home
furnishing	outward signs	1	Lear 3.1	perchance these are but furnishings
fustian	wretched, (cheap cloth?)	3	TN 2.5	A fustian riddle!
galliard	lively five-step dance, ending in a leap	4	TN 1.3	why dost thou not go to church in a galliard
gallow	scare, frighten, terrify	1	Lear 3.2	the wrathful skies Gallow the very wanderers of the dark,
gamut	musical scale (all in Shrew 3.1)	4	Shrew 3.1	To teach you gamut in a briefer sort
garboils, garboyles	uproars, disorders		Ant 1.1.372	Look here, and at thy Sovereign leisure read The Garboyles she awak'd:
gaskins	loose breeches	1	TN 1.4	if both break, your gaskins fall.
gasted	terrified	1	Lear 2.1	Or whether gasted by the noise I made,
germens, -ans	seeds, embryos, offspring	7	Lear 3.2 Oth 1.1	Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill … coursers for cousins and jennets for germans
gleek	play practical jokes	4	Mids 3.1	I can gleek upon occasion
glose	flatter; wheedle; fawn; talk smoothly	1	Rich II	they whom youth and ease have taught to glose
goodman	husband, commoner?	14	Shrew Ind.	Are you my wife and will not call me husband? / … I am your goodman.
got	begot, (also in modern sense)		Lear 2.1	I never got him.
grin	show one's teeth, grimace	11	2 HVI 3.3	the pangs of death do make him grin
halcyon	kingfisher	2	Lear 2.2	turn their halcyon beaks / With every gale …
hale	haul, drag	14	TN 3.3	I think oxen and wain-ropes cannot hale them together
halt	limp	19	Rich III 1.1	dogs bark at me as I halt by them
halter	a noose, a rope for hanging malefactors	9	Lear 3.4 TA 5.1	that hath laid knives under his pillow, and halters in his pew A halter, soldiers! hang him on this tree.
heavy	sorrowful, (infrequently used in the sense of 'weight', and then usually with some pun on sorrow)	218	Rich III 1.3 1 HIV 1.1 1 HIV 5.3	Thou slander of thy mother's heavy womb! A post from Wales loaden with heavy news I am as hot as moulten lead, and as heavy too
hefted	furnished with a handle: thus, finished off, delicately formed	1	Lear 2.4	Regan ... thy tender-hefted nature shall not give thee over to harshness
high-cross	market cross in the center of town	1	Shrew 1.1	whipped at the high cross every morning.
honest	chaste, pure	many	Oth 3.3	I do not think but Desdemona's honest
"Honest" is another value-laden, complex word, especially as used in Othello, with its many references to "Honest Iago".
housewife	hussy, prostitute	13	Oth 4.1	Bianca, a housewife, that by selling her desires
imp	graft with new feathers, as a wing; to splice a broken feather. hence, fig.: repair; to extend; increase; strengthen	5	Rich II	Imp out our drooping country's broken wing
impeach	dishonor; discredit; call in question	10	Mids	You do impeach your modesty too much
inherit	put in posession of; accept, believe, entertain		Rich II	It must be great that can inherit us
intermission	pause, delay	4	Lear 2.4	Deliver'd letters, spite of intermission
jealousy	concern (as used here, but usually "envy")		TN 3.3	But jealousy what might befall your travel,
kerns	light-armed Irish or Scottish foot soldier; distinguished from gallowglass, often used as a term of contempt	8	Rich II 2.1 2 HVI 3.1 2 HVI 3.1	supplant those rough rug-headed kerns The uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms. like a shag-hair'd crafty kern
kickshaws	trifle (Fr. quelque-choses)	2	TN 1.3	Art thou good at these kickshawses, knight?
knap	strike smartly, snap, knock	2	Lear 2.4	she knapped ‘em o’ the coxcombs
lanthorn	lantern (all but once in Mids)	8	Mids 5.1	This lanthorn doth the horned moon present
leman	sweetheart	3	TN 2.3	I sent thee sixpence for thy leman: hadst it?
lime	snare, trap (used 12 times in this sense)	12	2 HVI 1.3	myself have limed a bush for her
list	listen objective, goal; desire	60	Lear 5.3 TN 3.1 MWW 2.2	List a brief tale; she is the list of my voyage. go to bed when she list, rise when she list
lour	threaten darkly, scowl	9	Rich III 1.1 Rich II 1.3	clouds that loured upon our house This louring tempest of your home-bred hate
lym	bloodhound	1	Lear 3.6	Hound or spaniel, brach or lym,

Visit my site: Family History	Visit my other site: American Aces of World War Two