Shakespeare Dictionary, M - P

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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.

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Shakespeare's word	Meaning (in the sample usage)	#	Reference(s)	Sample usage
malapert	impudent	3	Rich III 1.3	Peace, master marquess, you are malapert:
manikin	puppet	1	TN 3.2	a dear manikin to you, Sir Toby.
measure	dances, music calculate size or amount	93	Rich III 1.1 Rich II 3.2	to delightful measures Measure our confines with such peaceful steps?
meed	reward, merit	19	Rich III 1.3	And for his meed, poor lord, he is mew'd up.
meiny	retinue	1	Lear 2.4	They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse;
mess	meal, food   a group of people, (soldiers), who eat meals together	13	Lear 1.1 Oth 4.1 LLL 5.2	makes his generation messes to gorge his appetite I will chop her into messes. A mess of Russians left us but of late.
mew (up)	confine, shut up, imprison	11	Rich III 1.1	This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,
minikin	shrill or pretty	1	Lear 3.6	And for one blast of thy minikin mouth,
minister	servant; subordinate; officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument; to serve, to help; to remedy	65	Lear 3.2 Mac 5.3	But yet I call you servile ministers Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,
modest	usually in modern sense, but also: appropriate, possible	47	Lear 2.4	Resolve me, with all modest haste, which way / Thou mightst deserve, or they impose,
moiety	portion, share	16	Lear I, 1	in neither can make choice of either's moiety
monument	memorial	41	Rich III 1.1	Our bruised arms hung up for monuments
natural	1) naturally loyal, and 2) illegitimate; pun on Latin for male member	many	Lear 2.1	Loyal and natural boy,
nature	Physical constitution or existence; the vital powers; the natural life creative world force	329	Lear 3.4; Lear 3.6 Rich III 1.1	The tyranny of the open night's too rough For nature to endure. Oppressed nature sleeps Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
"Nature" is one of those words in Shakespeare that one could write a whole dictionary about. The two different meanings shown here just scratch the surface of Shakespeare's use of the word.
noddle	head	2	Shrew 1.1	comb your noddle with a three-legg'd stool
note	memory musical element notice (usual modern sense) bill, invoice; list	166	Lear 3.1 2 HVI 4.6 2 HVI 3.1 2 HIV 5.1	upon the warrant of my note by notes of household harmony First note that he is near you ... ... the smith's note for shoeing
nuncio	messenger	1	TN 1.4	She will attend it better in thy youth / Than in a nuncio's of more grave aspect.
obscured course	disguised way of life		Lear 2.2
observant	diligent, attentive attendant, servant	3	Ham 1.1 Lear 2.2	same strict and most observant watch Than twenty silly ducking observants
office	customary duty, function, responsibility, charge or trust	162	Lear 2.4; Lear 2.1	thou better know'st The offices of nature, Done thy father a child-like office
old trot	hag, old woman	1	Shrew 1.2	an old trot with ne'er a tooth in her head
or ... or ...	either ... or ...		Lear 3.6 Lear 4.7	Be thy mouth or black or white. Or well or ill, as this day's battle's fought.

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.

ounce	Asian lynx (also used as a measure of weight)	1	Mids 2.2	Be it ounce, or cat, or bear
out-wall	exterior	1	Lear 3.1	I am much more Than my out-wall
pack	to practise unlawful confederacy, collude		Lear 3.1	what hath been seen ... in snuffs and packings of the dukes
pantaloon	old wealthy suitor, stock character in Italian comedies	2	Shrew 3.1 As 2.7	that we might beguile the old pantaloon Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon
parish top		1	TN 1.3	till his brains turn o' the toe like a parish-top
passing	exceedingly, surpassingly	25	Mids 2.1 Rich III 1.1	For Oberon is passing fell and wrath A cherry lip, a bonny eye, a passing pleasing tongue
pelican	viciously ungrateful, parent-hurting, as pelicans in fables cut open their mothers’ breasts to feed	3	Lear 3.4	Those pelican daughters
pelting	paltry, mean	6	Mids 2.1 Rich II 2.1	Contagious fogs; which, falling in the land, / Hath every pelting river made so proud Like to a tenement or pelting farm
perforce	of necessity	44	Lear 2.1	This weaves itself perforce into my business.
pheeze	settle your hash, fix you	2	Shrew Ind.	I'll pheeze you, in faith
physic	a remedy for disease; a medicine	34	Lear 3.4	Take physic, pomp; Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
piece out	augment	3	Lear 3.6	... thankfully. I will piece out the comfort with what ..
pight	fixed, past part. of pitch (as a tent)	3	Lear 2.1	When I dissuaded him from his intent, And found him pight to do it,
pilchard, pilcher	small herring-like fish	1	TN 3.1	fools are as like husbands as pilchards are to herrings; the husband's the bigger:
pill, pill'd	pillage, rob, plunder	3	Rich II	The commons hath he pill'd with grievous taxes
placket	petticoat, esp. an under petticoat; hence, a cant term for a woman	5	Lear 3.4	keep thy foot out of brothels, thy hand out of plackets
plain	complain		Lear 3.1	The king hath cause to plain.
plight	To pledge; to give as a pledge for the performance of some act; as, to plight faith, honor, word; -- never applied to property or goods.	15	TN 4.3	plight me the full assurance of your faith
policy	method by which a nation is governed; a system of administration, designed to promote the prosperity of a state administration based on material interest, rather than on principles of equity or honor; hence, worldly wisdom; dexterity of management; cunning	47	Henry V 1.1   1 HIV 1.3	Turn him to any cause of policy, / The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, Never did base and rotten policy / Colour her working with such deadly wounds;
politician	schemer	4	1 HIV 1.3	Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.
pomp	magnificent, powerful one (a king)	31	Lear 3.4   Hamlet 3.2	Take physic, pomp; Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, / And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee / Where thrift may follow fawning.
	The "candied tongue" line was a big success in Bolton High School in 1971. One of my classmates selected it as his yearbook quote.
post	messenger, courier	66	Lear 2.4	came there a reeking post
pother (pudder)	confusion; tumult; flutter; bother	2	Lear 3.2	Let the great gods, That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads, Find out their enemies now.
power	army	320	many
practise	skillful or artful management; stratagem; artifice; plot;	65	many Lear 2.4; Lear 2.1; Oth 3.4	many this remotion of the duke ... is practise He did bewray his practise Either from Venice, or some unhatch'd practise / Made demonstrable here in Cyprus to him
privily	privately; secretly	5	Lear 3.3	I will seek him, and privily relieve him:

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 the three main definitions of "rank" (a row, too luxuriant, or degree) and all its occurrences in the plays.

You can order Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary (Vol. 2 N-Z) by Alexander Schmidt (a Dover re-print, 1985) from Amazon.com. Please note that this is only Volume 2, N-Z. (You can find Schmidt's first volume on the main page.)

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