 Common Words & Phrases in Shakespeare's World A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Please contact me if you would like other words or phrases included.
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Common Pronouns, Verbs
and Prepositions thou = you
(subject, singular, informal)
e.g. "Thou wast in
the next room." ye = you (subject,
plural) e.g. "Ye all
came forth from the room." thee = you
(object... "to you" ) e.g.
"I saw thee in the other room." thine or thy = your (possessive,
singular) e.g. "That is thy room." art = are dost = do doth =
does 'ere = before hast = have 'tis = it is 'twas =
it was wast = were whence
= from where wherefore
= why hence
= from here oft
= often yea
= even ay
= yes aught
= anything yon,
yonder = that
one there would
(he were) = I
wish (he were) marry
= (a
mild swear word) nay
= no hie
= hurry acknown: aware.
[Othello] adventure my discretion: risk my
reputation. [The Tempest] aery: nest.
[Hamlet] affectioned: affected, one who puts
on airs. [Twelfth Night] affections swayed: passions ruled.
[Julius Caesar] against the hair: or, as we say,
"against the grain," a metaphor from brushing the hair of
an animal the opposite way to which it lies. [Romeo
and Juliet] agnize: acknowledge.
[Othello] aimed so near: guessed as much.
[Romeo and Juliet] alarum'd: summoned to action.
[Macbeth] alike bewitched: each of them
equally enchanted. [Romeo and Juliet] all exercise: i.e., all their
habitual activity. [The Tempest] ambition: for the Elizabethans the
word had the special meaning of unscrupulous pursuit of
power. [Julius Caesar] amerce: punish. [Romeo and
Juliet] Anon, anon: In a moment!
[Macbeth] anters: caves.
[Othello] a patient list: the limits of
patience. [Othello] apparent prodigies: wonders that
have appeared. [Julius Caesar] argal: therefore.
[Hamlet] aroint thee: begone. [King
Lear] arrant: out-and-out.
[Hamlet] arras: tapestry, commonly hung in
medieval castles from ceiling to floor for the prevention
of drafts. [Hamlet] as thou list: any way you like.
[The Tempest] asquint: crookedly, falsely.
[King Lear] atomies: miniature beings. [Romeo and Juliet] augurers: priests who interpreted
omens. [Julius Caesar] auspicious mistress: as a favorable influence. [King
Lear] bastinado: thrashing or cudgeling.
[King Henry IV, Part 1] batten: glut yourself.
[Hamlet] bawbling: small. [Twelfth
Night] bawcock: fine fellow. [Twelfth
Night] bawd: go-between a man and a woman.
[Romeo and Juliet] bear hard: bear a grudge against.
[Julius Caesar] beetles o'er: overhangs.
[Hamlet] beggarly account: very small
number. [Romeo and Juliet] behoveful: necessary. [Romeo
and Juliet] beldams: hags.
[Macbeth] belike: probably. [King
Lear] berattle: abuse.
[Hamlet] beshrew: a curse, plague upon.
[Hamlet]; blame. [Romeo and Juliet]
confound. [Twelfth Night] betid: happened. [The
Tempest] betimes: at once. [Julius
Caesar] betoken: indicate.
[Hamlet] bewray: reveal. [King
Lear] biddy: common name for a hen.
[Twelfth Night] bilboes: fetters.
[Hamlet] bird of night: the owl. [Julius
Caesar] bite my thumb: an insulting gesture
in Shakespeare's time. [Romeo and
Juliet] bite thee by the ear: a term of
endearment, not of assault. [Romeo and
Juliet] blasted: barren.
[Macbeth] blazon: proclamation (like a
coat-of-arms, or possibly, a triumphant blast on the
trumpet). [Twelfth Night] blinking idiot: that is, a fool's
head. [The Merchant of Venice] bodements: prophecies.
[Macbeth] bodkin: dagger.
[Hamlet] bombard: leather bottle. [The
Tempest] bootless: useless. [King
Lear]; vainly. [Julius Caesar] bosky: wooded. [The
Tempest] bowers: glades. [Twelfth
Night] brach: hound bitch. [King
Lear] brainsickly: foolishly.
[Macbeth] bray out: celebrate.
[Hamlet] break his day: fail to pay on the
prescribed day. [The Merchant of
Venice] break with: break our news to,
discuss. [Julius Caesar] brief candle: life is compared to a
candle flame. [Macbeth] bring the device to the bar: bring
the trick out into the open, to be judged (a flavor of
the law is in these words). [Twelfth
Night] brock: badger or skunk.
[Twelfth Night] broken sinews: racked nerves.
[King Lear] bruit: echo.
[Hamlet] buckler: shield. [King Henry
IV, Part 1] busky: bushy. [King Henry IV,
Part 1] but soft: slowly. [Julius
Caesar] caitiff: wretch (term of
endearment). [Othello] caliver: light kind of musket or
harquebus introduced during the 16th century; it seems to
have been the lightest portable fire-arm, except the
pistol, and was fired without a "rest." [King Henry
IV, Part 1] callet: whore.
[Othello] cank'red, cankered: rusty,
malignant (a canker is a bud-destroying worm; hence
cancer). [Romeo and Juliet] cantons: love songs (cantos).
[Twelfth Night] cap-a-pe: fully armed from head to
foot. [Hamlet] carded: mixed with something base.
The word was in use from 1590 to 1635 for mixing
different kinds of drink. [King Henry IV, Part
1] carrion men: decaying corpses.
[Julius Caesar] carrions: living carcasses.
[Julius Caesar] cashiered: dismissed (but not
necessarily without honor). [Othello] casing: all-embracing.
[Macbeth] catch: musical round. [Twelfth
Night] cater-cousins: close friends.
[The Merchant of Venice] caterwauling: making a wailing
noise like a cat. From Middle English cat + wawen, to
wail (an onomatopoetic word, whose sound echoes its
meaning). [Twelfth Night] cautel: craft.
[Hamlet] cerecloth: shroud. [The
Merchant of Venice] cerements: winding-sheets, shroud.
[Hamlet] certes: assuredly.
[Othello] chafing with: beating on.
[Julius Caesar] chalked forth: indicated the
direction. [The Tempest] champain: flat, open country.
[Twelfth Night] changed eyes: fallen in love; the
phrase, arising from the exchange of amorous glances, was
a common Elizabethan one. [The
Tempest] chaps: jaws.
[Macbeth] charactery: what is written upon,
i.e., the meaning. [Julius Caesar] chariest: most modest and virtuous.
[Hamlet] charmingly: for the Elizabethans
the word "charm" usually carried a reference to magic, as
it does here. [The Tempest] checking at: swerving aside from.
[Hamlet] cheveril glove: kid leather (easily
stretchable). [Twelfth Night] chinks: cash (from the clatter of
the coins). [Romeo and Juliet] chop-logic: one who bandies logic;
one who exchanges trivial points of logic. [Romeo and
Juliet] chopt: chapped. [Julius
Caesar] chough: jackdaw (i.e., a
chatterer). [Hamlet] Christian cursy: Christian charity.
[The Merchant of Venice] civet: perfume. [King
Lear] clepe: call. [Hamlet];
"clept." [Macbeth] climatures: regions.
[Hamlet] clodpole: blockhead. [Twelfth
Night] cobbler: this means bungler as well
as shoemaker. [Julius Caesar] cockatrices: mythological
creatures, half serpent, half cockerel, famed for killing
at a glance. [Twelfth Night] collied: darkened.
[Othello] collier: coal-miner. [Twelfth
Night] Colossus: the huge statue of Apollo
at the harbour of Rhodes. It was erroneously thought that
its legs spanned the harbour entrance. [Julius
Caesar] colour: excuse. [Julius
Caesar] common proof: common experience.
[Julius Caesar] compass: bring about. [Twelfth
Night] compliment extern: outward
appearance. [Othello] comptible: sensitive. [Twelfth
Night] concave shores: overhanging banks.
[Julius Caesar] conceit: imaginings, nightmares.
[Romeo and Juliet] condition: constitution, state of
mind. [Julius Caesar] contagious blastments: destructive
blights. [Hamlet] contemned love: love that is given
but not returned. [Twelfth Night] continuate: uninterrupted.
[Othello] contracted bachelors: young men who
are engaged to be married and whose banns are being
called in church. [King Henry IV, Part
1] corky: dry with age. [King
Lear] coronets: small crown, or perhaps a
laurel wreath. [Julius Caesar] corse: body. [Hamlet];
corpse. [Romeo and Juliet] court of guard: headquarters.
[Othello] coxcomb: a fool's cap, often with a
cock's comb attached to the top. [King
Lear] coystrill: knave or base fellow.
[Twelfth Night] cozen: cheat. [The Merchant of
Venice] cozier: cobbler. [Twelfth
Night] crickets cry: thought of as an omen
of death. [Macbeth] crisped: curly. [The Merchant
of Venice] crochets: whims. [Romeo and
Juliet] crossed: opposed. [Julius
Caesar] crowner: coroner (one who conducts
inquests). [Twelfth Night] crush a cup: a common colloquial
expression in Elizabethan English comparable to "crack
open a bottle." [Romeo and Juliet] cry you mercy: beg your pardon.
[Othello] cubiculo: room, chamber.
[Twelfth Night] cullionly barbermonger: rascal who
goes too often to the barber. [King
Lear] cursy: curtsey, bow. [The
Merchant of Venice] cut-purse: thief.
[Hamlet] dallying: fondling one another.
[Hamlet] date is out, the: it is no longer
the fashion. [Romeo and Juliet] dateless: everlasting. [Romeo
and Juliet] daws: jackdaws, or fools.
[Othello] dear account: sad reckoning. In
Elizabethan English the word "dear" intensified the
meaning -- you could have a "dear friend" and a "dear
enemy." [Romeo and Juliet] death's-head: skull. [The
Merchant of Venice] denotement: careful observation.
[Othello] dilate: tell fully.
[Othello] dismount thy tuck: take thy rapier
out of its scabbard or sheath. [Twelfth
Night] dissemble: deceive. [Twelfth
Night] distaff: the spinning staff, and
hence symbol of the woman. [King Lear] distemperature: illness or other
physical disorder. [King Henry IV, Part
1] do my duties: voice my loyalty.
[Othello] dog at: clever at. [Twelfth
Night] doit: cheap coin. [The Merchant
of Venice] dormouse valour: small amount of
bravery. [Twelfth Night] doublet: lined jacket. [King
Henry IV, Part 1] doves: the Chariot of Venus was
drawn by doves, which were sacred to her. [Romeo and
Juliet] down-gyved: fallen, like shackles,
about the ankles. [Hamlet] drabbing: associating with
prostitutes. [Hamlet] dram: small amount. [Twelfth
Night] dropping fire: thunderbolts.
[Julius Caesar] drops of sorrow: tears.
[Macbeth] drossy: frivolous.
[Hamlet] dry sorrow (drinks our blood):
another old belief, that sorrow caused people to go pale
through lack of blood. [Romeo and
Juliet] dudgeon: handle. [Macbeth]
dunnest: darkest.
[Macbeth] dun's the mouse: a slang
Elizabethan phrase meaning "Keep quiet." [Romeo and
Juliet] dupp'd: opened.
[Hamlet] dwell on form: do the proper thing
(in the formal, conventional way). [Romeo and
Juliet] eanlings: lambs. [The Merchant
of Venice] Egyptian: gypsy.
[Othello] elflocks: when dirty hair became
clotted together it was superstitiously put down to
elves, hence "elflocks." [Romeo and
Juliet] eliads: from the French
"oeillades," amorous glances. [King
Lear] Elysium: paradise (Illyria).
[Twelfth Night] embowell'd: embalmed. [King
Henry IV, Part 1] encave: hide.
[Othello] enchafed: angry.
[Othello] endues: brings.
[Othello] engluts: devours.
[Othello] ensteeped: submerged.
[Othello] envy: hatred. [The
Tempest]; malice. [Julius Caesar] enwheel: encompass.
[Othello] erns: grieves. [Julius
Caesar] Ethiop's: Negro, as used by
Shakespeare, not Ethiopian in its narrower sense.
[Romeo and Juliet] extravagant and erring: vagrant and
wandering (both used in original Latin sense, a common
device of Shakespeare). [Hamlet] extremities: extremes of power.
[Julius Caesar] eyeless: invisible. [King
Lear] fable: palm of the hand. [The
Merchant of Venice] factious: active. [Julius
Caesar] fadge: fall into place.
[Twelfth Night] fain: glad, gladly, willingly.
[King Lear] [Romeo and Juliet]
[Hamlet] fall off: become a rebel or
traitor. [King Henry IV, Part 1] falling sickness: epilepsy.
[Julius Caesar] Falls purpose: is close to the
truth. [Julius Caesar] fashion: shape to our purpose.
[Julius Caesar] fat: amiable and satisfied.
[Julius Caesar] Fates: in classical mythology, the
three goddesses who directed human destinies. [Julius
Caesar] favour: feature. [Julius
Caesar] feather-bed: i.e.. marriage.
[The Merchant of Venice] festinate: speedy. [King
Lear] fetches: excuses. [King
Lear] fia: forward! (from the Italian
via.) [The Merchant of Venice] Fie: interjection expressing sense
of outraged propriety. [Hamlet] figures: fantasies. [Julius
Caesar] fleer: scorn, or mock at.
[Romeo and Juliet] fleering: the Elizabethan meaning
combined our "fawning" and "sneering." [Julius
Caesar] Flibbertigibbet: the name of a
devil; here and later Shakespeare takes the names of his
devils -- Smulkin, Modo -- from a book by Samuel Harsnett
published in 1603. The names also give the effect of the
devils, fiends and goblins of folk mythology, which would
come naturally to Tom o' Bedlam. [King
Lear] flirt-gills: loose women. "Gill"
was a familiar or contemptuous term for a girl (as "Jack"
for a boy). [Romeo and Juliet] flote: flood, and hence also sea.
[The Tempest] flowerets: young men in the flower
of their manhood. [King Henry IV, Part
1] flung out: kicked and plunged
wildly. [Macbeth] fobbed: cheated. [King Henry
IV, Part 1] foison: harvest, abundance.
[The Tempest] fools' zanies: clowns' assistants.
[Twelfth Night] fopped: duped.
[Othello] fordid: destroyed. [King
Lear]; destroys. [Othello] forks: legs. [King
Lear] formal constancy: steadfast
self-possession. [Julius Caesar] four elements: earth, air, fire,
and water: The Elizabethans believed that humanity was
made up of various combinations of these four elements.
The theory of humours was based upon this theory.
[Twelfth Night] franklin: yeoman farmer or holder
of the freehold to a property. These men were in effect
landed gentry. [King Henry IV, Part 1] frieze: rough cloth.
[Othello] frippery: old-clothes shop.
[The Tempest] from the main: not the strong.
[Julius Caesar] fulsome: fat. [The Merchant of
Venice] fust: grow moldy.
[Hamlet] fustian: bombastic, ridiculously
pompous (when used as an adjective). [Twelfth
Night] gage: to bind as by oath or
promise; to pledge. [King Henry IV, Part
1] gaged: indebted. [The Merchant
of Venice]; pledged. [Hamlet] gallow: frighten. [King
Lear] galls his kibe: steps on (scrapes)
his heel. [Hamlet] gamesome: sportive. [Julius
Caesar] gaskins: breeches. [Twelfth
Night] gasted: frightened (as in
"aghast"). [King Lear] gauntlet: armored glove flung down
as a challenge. [King Lear] gentle: noble, or well-born; mild
or amiable. [Julius Caesar] get the start: i.e., a head start;
the metaphor from the running of a race is carried on in
the victor's "palm" in the next line. [Julius
Caesar] gib: tomcat.
[Hamlet] give him o'er: leave someone alone.
[The Tempest] glazed: a combination of glared and
gazed. [Julius Caesar] gleek: jest, mock. [Romeo and
Juliet] goatish: the goat was frequently
used to represent lechery by the Elizabethans. [King
Lear] God-den: good evening, a
contraction of the fuller "God give you a good even."
[Romeo and Juliet] goodyears: the word is usually
taken to refer to the forces of evil, in accordance with
the folk tradition of calling evil spirits by innocent
names, e.g., "little people" for "goblins." [King
Lear] goose: tailor's iron.
[Macbeth] gouts: drops.
[Macbeth] grace for grace: favor in return
for favor. [Romeo and Juliet] gramercy: many thanks. [The
Merchant of Venice] great wheel: the wheel of Fortune,
and the great man (King Lear) in decline. [King
Lear] green sour ringlets: fairy rings
formed by toadstools. [The Tempest] grise: degree.
[Othello] grizzled: gray.
[Hamlet] gross and scope: general
conclusion. [Hamlet] gross in sense: perfectly clear.
[Othello] groundings: the poorer and less
critical section of the audience who stood in the pit.
[Hamlet] gudgeon: a fish. [The Merchant
of Venice] gull: deceive and trick.
[Twelfth Night] guttered: jagged.
[Othello] hams: knees. [Romeo and
Juliet] haply: perhaps.
[Hamlet] hard construction: uncharitable
interpretation. [Twelfth Night] hardiment: hard blows. [King
Henry IV, Part 1] harpy: a mythical beast having the
head of a woman and the body, wings, and talons of an
eagle: supposed to act as an agent of vengeance. [The
Tempest] hart: deer, with a pun on heart.
[Julius Caesar] have at thee: on guard! [Romeo
and Juliet] have old: have a great deal of
trouble (a slang term). [Macbeth] hearts of controversy: in rivalry.
[Julius Caesar] heath: a waste tract of land.
[Macbeth] heat-oppressed: capable of being
handled. [Macbeth] heave the gorge: become nauseated.
[Othello] heavy summons: a feeling of heavy
drowsiness. [Macbeth] heir-apparent: next in line to the
throne. [King Henry IV, Part 1] hests: commands. [The
Tempest] hie: hurry. [Julius
Caesar] high-lone: quite alone. [Romeo
and Juliet] high-sighted: ambitious.
[Julius Caesar] hilding: a good-for-nothing.
[Romeo and Juliet] hinds: deer. [Julius
Caesar] hit together: agree. [King
Lear] hob, nob: hit or miss. [Twelfth
Night] hold carelessly: think little of
someone. [Romeo and Juliet] holidam: originally the holy relics
upon which oaths were sworn; by the late 16th century
this word was used as a weak asseveration or mild oath.
[Romeo and Juliet] holp: archaic form of helped.
[Romeo and Juliet] horned man's: cuckold's.
[Othello] housewives: hussies.
[Othello] hugger-mugger: secret haste.
[Hamlet] humour: feeling (of fear); to
persuade by flattery; or a mood, temperament, or mist.
[Julius Caesar] hunts-up: originally the sound that
roused huntsmen, this expression means any morning
greeting. [Romeo and Juliet] hurlyburly: the noise and confusion
of battle. [Macbeth] husbandry: thrift.
[Hamlet] ides: the 15th day of the month.
[Julius Caesar] ill-divining: foreboding evil.
[Romeo and Juliet] Illyria: a mythical land somewhere
in the Mediterranean. [Twelfth Night] impawn'd pledged. [King Henry
IV, Part 1] import: concern.
[Othello] in scarlet, to be: blush.
[Romeo and Juliet] incarnadine: turn blood-red.
[Macbeth] indign: unworthy.
[Othello] ingraft: habitual.
[Othello] ingrafted: deep-rooted. [Julius
Caesar] insuppressive: unsuppressable,
indomitable. [Julius Caesar] intentively: with full attention.
[Othello] intermit: hold off. [Julius
Caesar] inurn'd: buried.
[Hamlet] Jacks: fellows (contemptuous).
[The Merchant of Venice] jaunce: trudging about. [Romeo
and Juliet] jaundice: a symptom of violent
passion. [The Merchant of Venice] jealous: in the sense of
suspicious. [Julius Caesar] jointress: partner.
[Hamlet] Jove: King of the Roman gods.
[Romeo and Juliet] jowls: bumps.
[Hamlet] kisses Emilia: the usual
Renaissance form of social courtesy.
[Othello] knapped: knocked. [King
Lear]; nibbled. [The Merchant of
Venice] knits up: straightens out.
[Macbeth] knotted and combined locks: i.e.,
lying together in a mass. [Hamlet] ladybird: a term of endearment,
similar to "lamb." [Romeo and Juliet] lay-to: use. [The
Tempest] lazar-like: like leprosy.
[Hamlet] leasing: the power of telling lies.
[Twelfth Night] leman: sweetheart. [Twelfth
Night] lethe: in classical mythology Lethe
was a river in Hades, the waters of which induced
forgetfulness. Here the association is with death
generally. [Julius Caesar] lief: soon.
[Hamlet] liver: the Elizabethans considered
the liver to be the seat of the emotions. [The
Merchant of Venice] liver, brain, and heart: the liver
vied with the heart as the seat of the bodily passions in
the Elizabethan physiology; the brain was to control the
exercise of both the affections and the passions.
[Twelfth Night] livings: possessions. [The
Merchant of Venice] loath: reluctant. [Twelfth
Night] loggerheads: numbskulls. [King
Henry IV, Part 1] long-ingraffed: long-standing.
[King Lear] lown: rascal.
[Othello] lym: bloodhound. [King
Lear] magnificoes: magnates, great men.
[The Merchant of Venice] maidenhead: virginity. [Twelfth
Night] make shift: be able to, manage.
[The Merchant of Venice] makes dainty: comes shyly.
[Romeo and Juliet] malapert: impertinent. [Twelfth
Night] marchpane: confectionery made of
almond paste, sugar, and marzipan. [Romeo and
Juliet] marry: an oath, by (the Virgin)
Mary! but in effect no stronger than "indeed." [Romeo
and Juliet] [Julius Caesar] masterless: abandoned. [Romeo
and Juliet] maugre: despite (Fr. malgre).
[Twelfth Night] [King Lear] mazzard: head.
[Othello] meet: proper. [Julius
Caesar] meetest: fittest. [The Merchant
of Venice] meiny: followers, attendants.
[King Lear] memento mori: reminder of death
(usually a skull). [King Henry IV, Part
1] meshes: net. [The Merchant of
Venice] mewed up to her heaviness: encased
in her grief. [Romeo and Juliet] micher: truant (our colloquial word
"moocher" is derived from this). [King Henry IV, Part
1] miching mallecho: slinking
mischief. [Hamlet] might not but: must.
[Othello] minion: darling, favorite.
[Macbeth] misprision: misunderstanding.
[Twelfth Night] moe: more. [Julius Caesar]
[The Merchant of Venice] moiety competent: sufficient
portion. [Hamlet] moo: more.
[Othello] mooncalf: monstrosity. [The
Tempest] mortal arbitrament: settle a
dispute by duelling to the death of one contestant.
[Twelfth Night] motion of the liver: the liver was
regarded as the seat of the passions. [Twelfth
Night] mountebanks: charlatans who sell
quack medicine. [Othello] mouse-hunt: one who runs after
women. [Romeo and Juliet] mow: make faces. [The
Tempest] much ado: much trouble, fuss.
[King Lear] much unfurnished: not ready.
[Romeo and Juliet] Mugs: common name for a country
bumpkin. [King Henry IV, Part 1] mushrumps: mushrooms. [The
Tempest] music from the spheres: according
to Pythagoras, the universe consisted of eight hollow
spheres, inside of which the earth and all the other
planets are fixed. The spheres produced a note, each of
which combined to produce perfect harmony that is
inaudible to the human ear. The earth is at the center of
this system. [Twelfth Night] mute: slave whose tongue has been
removed for security reasons, or silent person. Both
mutes and eunuchs were associated with oriental courts.
[Twelfth Night] naughty: insolent, wicked. A
stronger term for the Elizabethans than for us.
[Julius Caesar] new abroach: newly afoot (newly
underway). [Romeo and Juliet] night-tripping fairy: it was
commonly believed that elves and fairies sometimes
exchanged well-favored babies for nasty ones, who were
often called changelings. [King Henry IV, Part
1] nimble-footed: madcap. [King
Henry IV, Part 1] nimble-pinioned doves:
nimble-winged doves. Doves pulled Venus' chariot and were
held sacred by her. [Romeo and Juliet] nonce: occasion.
[Hamlet] nothing jealous: have no doubt.
Frequently used by Elizabethans. [Julius
Caesar] nuncle: an abbreviation of mine
uncle; intimacies of address such as this were permitted
to a "licensed fool." [King Lear] O proper stuff: A fine thing this!
[Macbeth] occulted: hidden.
[Hamlet] odd-even: between night and day.
[Othello] o'er ears: i.e., underwater.
[The Tempest] of general assault: common to all
men. [Hamlet] of wax: i.e., as handsome as if he
had been modeled in wax, finer than men usually are.
[Romeo and Juliet] on the hip: at my mercy.
[Othello] orb: poetic word for world.
[Twelfth Night] ordinary: a tavern. [Julius
Caesar] othergates: otherwise (than).
[Twelfth Night] out of haunt: away from others.
[Hamlet] out of warrant: unjustifiable.
[Othello] out: angry. [Julius
Caesar] outface them: get the better of
them. [The Merchant of Venice] overname: name them over. [The
Merchant of Venice] paddock: a toad, as in an attendant
spirit that calls a witch when it is time to go on some
evil errand. [Macbeth] pale Hecate: Hecate, goddess of the
moon and the underworld, was queen of the witches and
witchcraft. [Macbeth] palmy: flourishing.
[Hamlet] palter: quibble or deceive.
[Julius Caesar] pard or cat o' mountain: leopard.
[The Tempest] parle: parley.
[Hamlet] patch: clown or fool. [The
Merchant of Venice] paunch: stab. [The
Tempest] pearl: all that's good in the
kingdom. [Macbeth] peize: "piece out," delay. [The
Merchant of Venice] pennyworths: small quantities (of
sleep); pronounced "pennorths." [Romeo and
Juliet] pent-house lid: the eyelid that
resembles a sloped roof. [Macbeth] perdy: from the French par dieu, by
God. [King Lear] periwig-pated: bewigged.
[Hamlet] perpetual wink: endless sleep;
death. [The Tempest] pignuts: peanuts. [The
Tempest] plume up: gratify.
[Othello] point-devise: to the point of
perfection. [Twelfth Night] poor pennyworth: only a small
quantity. [The Merchant of Venice] portance: behavior.
[Othello] possets: a drink made from hot
curdled milk, ale, wine, etc., and taken usually on
retiring. [Macbeth] posy: inscription inside a ring,
often in verse. [The Merchant of
Venice] pout'st upon: treat with contempt.
[Romeo and Juliet] practicing upon: plotting against.
[Othello] praetor: magistrate. [Julius
Caesar] prate: chatter, gossip.
[Macbeth] prick: spur. [Julius
Caesar] primy: in its prime, youthful.
[Hamlet] princox: PRIN/ce of COX/combs;
pert, saucy boy, upstart. [Romeo and
Juliet] prithee: I entreat you.
[Twelfth Night] prodigies: unnatural events.
[Julius Caesar] proof of constancy: test of
endurance. [Julius Caesar] proper: belonging. [Julius
Caesar] propertied me: made a tool of.
[Twelfth Night] prorogued: adjourned (postponed).
[Romeo and Juliet] pudder: tumult. [King
Lear] puddled: muddied.
[Othello] puling: whining. [Romeo and
Juliet] purblind: quite blind or merely
dimsighted. [Romeo and Juliet] is pure innocence: i.e., has the
same childlike sincerity. [The Merchant of
Venice] purple-hued malt-worm: purplefaced
beer-drinkers. [King Henry IV, Part 1] pursy: sensual.
[Hamlet] put foil: set it off by contrast.
[The Tempest] put on: incite. [Othello];
reveal. [Julius Caesar] put to silence: a euphemism for
executed. [Julius Caesar] put up our pipes: pack up.
[Romeo and Juliet] quailing: cowardly giving up.
[King Henry IV, Part 1] quaint: the word has various
Elizabethan meanings: skillful, ingenious, delicate,
elegant. [The Tempest] quick mettle: mentally sharp.
[Julius Caesar] quiddities: subtle distinctions,
hair-splitting. [Hamlet] quilets: quibbles.
[Hamlet] quillets: quips.
[Othello] rack'd reference to the rack, an
instrument of torture. [Twelfth Night] rank garb: gross manner.
[Othello] ranker: greater.
[Hamlet] rated: upbraided. [Julius
Caesar] razes: roots (from Latin, radix
root). [King Henry IV, Part 1] reasonable shore: the shore of
reason, the mind. [The Tempest] receiving: sensitive understanding.
[Twelfth Night] recks rede: takes no care of his
own counsel. [Hamlet] reechy: literally smoky, foul.
[Hamlet] reeking: sweating. [King
Lear] remembrances: love-tokens.
[Hamlet] rest you merry: a colloquial term
of farewell, comparable to our "All the best!" [Romeo
and Juliet] reverb no hollowness: i.e., make no
noise, as a hollow vessel does when it is struck.
[King Lear] rheumy: moist. [Julius
Caesar] rive: split open. [King
Lear]; split in two. [Julius
Caesar] robustious: ranting.
[Hamlet] romage: rummage, bustle.
[Hamlet] ronyon: a term of abuse or
contempt. [Macbeth] rouse: draught of liquor, bumper,
toast. [Hamlet] rump-fed: fed with expensive cuts
of meat. [Macbeth] sable silver'd: black streaked with
white. [Hamlet] sallies: sudden advances in battle.
[King Henry IV, Part 1] saws: maxims, aphorisms.
[Twelfth Night] scant show well: scarcely appear
attractive. [Romeo and Juliet] scanted: ignored. [King
Lear]; stingy. [King Lear] scarfed: with flags flying.
[The Merchant of Venice] Scone: where Scottish kings were
crowned. [Macbeth] scotch'd: slashed, gashed.
[Macbeth] scrimers: fencers.
[Hamlet] scutcheon: shield on coat of arms.
[King Henry IV, Part 1] se offendendo: in self-defense.
[Hamlet] seated in the mean: with neither
too much nor too little. [The Merchant of
Venice] sect or scion: cutting or offshoot.
[Othello] seel: blind, close.
[Othello] self-bounty: inherent goodness.
[Othello] selfsame flight: same sort.
[The Merchant of Venice] sennet: a musical phrase played on
the trumpet indicating a ceremonial entrance. [King
Lear] sequestration: separation.
[Othello] set cock-a-hoop: orig., to drink
without stint, make good cheer recklessly, (hence) to
cast off all restraint. [Romeo and
Juliet] several bastardy: not true Roman
blood [Julius Caesar] shark'd: gathered indiscriminately.
[Hamlet] shent: rebuked, reproved, blamed.
[Twelfth Night] [Hamlet] shoon: shoes.
[Hamlet] shoughs: shaggy-haired dogs.
[Macbeth] shrift: confession. [Romeo and
Juliet] shut up: retired to rest.
[Macbeth] sick offence: harmful illness.
[Julius Caesar] sift him: find out what one knows.
[Hamlet] signifying nothing: lacking sense
or meaning. [Macbeth] sir-reverence: filth, dung.
"Sir-reverence" came to mean this because the word
prefaced mention of unpleasant things (a corruption of
"save your reverence;" i.e., excuse my mentioning it).
[Romeo and Juliet] skimble-skamble stuff: confused,
rambling nonsense. [King Henry IV, Part
1] sleave: skein (of silk).
[Macbeth] slenderly known himself: knows
little of his real self. [King Lear] 'slight: by God's light (common
Elizabethan oath). [Twelfth Night] slipp'd the hour: passed the
appointed time. [Macbeth] slubber: make a mess of. [The
Merchant of Venice] slug-abed: lit. slug in a bed,
i.e., lazy creature. [Romeo and
Juliet] smilets: little smiles. [King
Lear] sneck up!: Go hang (onomatopoetic
sound of a man's neck breaking.) [Twelfth
Night] Soft you!: i.e., Hold on; wait.
[Hamlet] [Julius Caesar] sonties: saints. [The Merchant
of Venice] sooth: truth.
[Macbeth] sounded: proclaimed. [Julius
Caesar] sow'd a grizzle on thy case: grown
a beard on your face. [Twelfth Night] spleen: anger. [Othello];
fiery impetuosity. [King Henry IV, Part
1] splenetive: full of spleen,
hot-tempered. [Hamlet] spongy: drunk, saturated with
liquor. [Macbeth] springe: snare.
[Hamlet] stand close: stand back, conceal
yourself. [Julius Caesar] star-crossed: i.e., their fortunes
were marred by the influence of the stars. That men's
natures and fortunes were influenced by the star under
which they were born was a widespread superstition of
Elizabethan times. [Romeo and Juliet] steads: benefits. [Romeo and
Juliet] still: always. A common Elizabethan
use. [Hamlet] still quiring: ever singing.
[The Merchant of Venice] stoup: cup, flagon, or tankard.
[Twelfth Night] [Hamlet] stronds: shores. [King Henry
IV, Part 1] stumblest on my counsel: overhears
by accident my secret thoughts. [Romeo and
Juliet] suborn'd: secretly induced or
hired. [Macbeth] suit: wooing. [Twelfth
Night] swag-bellied: loose-bellied.
[Othello] swashing blow: knock-out blow.
[Romeo and Juliet] sweet friends: i.e., the two lips.
[The Merchant of Venice] swoopstake: in a clean sweep.
[Hamlet] swounded: fainted. [Julius
Caesar] tabor: small drum used by
professional clowns and jesters. [Twelfth
Night] taper: candle. [Julius
Caesar] tardiness in nature: natural
reticence. [King Lear] teen: pain. [The
Tempest] tell the clock: answer
appropriately. [The Tempest] tenders: offers.
[Hamlet] termagant: violent. [King Henry
IV, Part 1] terms compulsative: force.
[Hamlet] tetchy: fretful, peevish.
[Romeo and Juliet] Thane: an old title of nobility in
Scotland similar to that of Earl.
[Macbeth] Theban: the association of the
Greek city Thebes, as with Athens, is with philosophical
inquiry. [King Lear] thought-executing: numbing the
thought. [King Lear] thunder-stone: thunderbolt,
lightning. [Julius Caesar] tinkers: tinkers were a noisy lot
and, being gypsies, had their own language (Romany).
[Twelfth Night] 'Tis all one: i.e., 'tis all the
same, it makes no difference to me. [Romeo and
Juliet] Tom o' Bedlam: one who begs on the
roads and has been released from the London madhouse,
Bethlehem ("Bedlam") Hospital. [King
Lear] topgallant: highest sail on the
mast; hence, summit. [Romeo and
Juliet] toy in blood: trifling passion.
[Hamlet] traffic: trade, commerce. [The
Tempest] traject: ferry (from Italian
traghetto). [The Merchant of Venice] trammel up: catch, as in a net.
[Macbeth] travelling lamp: the sun.
[Macbeth] trencher: wooden plate, lit. one to
cut food upon. [Romeo and Juliet] trimmed: dressed up.
[Othello] tristful: sorrowful.
[Hamlet] trowest: believe, give credit to.
[King Lear] truckle-bed: small bed on wheels
(cf. "truck") which (for a servant) was pushed under a
larger bed (the master's), trundle bed. [Romeo and
Juliet] truncheon: a general's baton.
[Hamlet] turn Turk: turn bad.
[Hamlet] two-headed Janus: a Roman god
represented with two faces, one smiling and the other
frowning. [The Merchant of Venice] unbend: relax.
[Macbeth] unbitted: uncontrolled.
[Othello] unbound: unbounded, unmarried,
free. [Romeo and Juliet] unbraced: with doublet untied,
open. [Julius Caesar] unbruised: unspoiled. [Romeo
and Juliet] uncharge the practice: acquit us of
plotting. [Hamlet] undergoing stomach: enduring
spirit. [The Tempest] undone: returned to chaos.
[Macbeth] ungently: discourteously.
[Julius Caesar] unhoused: unrestrained.
[Othello] unhousel'd: not having received the
sacrament. [Hamlet] unmake: unnerve.
[Macbeth] unprevailing: futile.
[Hamlet] unprovide: unsettle.
[Othello] unreclaimed: untamed.
[Hamlet] unsinew'd: weak.
[Hamlet] unstuffed: by care (anxiety).
[Romeo and Juliet] untaught: unmannerly, ignorant.
[Romeo and Juliet] untented: uncurable; to "tent" a
wound was to probe and clean it. [King
Lear] unthrifty: unlucky. [Romeo and
Juliet] unyoke: i.e., consider your day's
work done. [Hamlet] upon the gad: on the spur of the
moment. [King Lear] up-staring: standing straight up.
[The Tempest] urchin-shows: it was an Elizabethan
folk belief that malignant spirits appeared in the form
of hedgehogs to torment people. [The
Tempest] usance: interest on money lent.
[The Merchant of Venice] vailing: lowering. [The
Merchant of Venice] varlets: low, uncouth characters.
[The Tempest] varnished faces: i.e., wearing
painted masks. [The Merchant of
Venice] verdure: vitality, health. [The
Tempest] vestal livery: virgin uniform.
[Romeo and Juliet] villanies: evil qualities.
[Macbeth] virgin hue: whiteness; the
Elizabethans usually spoke of silver as being white.
[The Merchant of Venice] vizards: masks.
[Macbeth] void your rheum: spit. [The
Merchant of Venice] vulgar, the: the common people.
[Julius Caesar] wafter: wave. [Julius
Caesar] wag: witty fellow. [King Henry
IV, Part 1] want-wit: one who lacks wits.
[The Merchant of Venice] watch him tame: keep after him
until he agrees with you. [Othello] watchful cares: cares that keep one
awake. [Julius Caesar] water-rugs: rough water dogs.
[Macbeth] weak supposal: poor opinion.
[Hamlet] weather-fends: protects from the
weather. [The Tempest] weird sisters: weird, meant
fateful, as in the three fates of Graeco-Roman mythology.
[Macbeth] welkin: sky, one of the elements.
[Twelfth Night] well conceited: both correctly
conceived and aptly expressed. [Julius
Caesar] weraday: alas the day. [Romeo
and Juliet] whe'r: frequent in Shakespeare for
whether. [Julius Caesar] white-upturned: with eyes rolled,
as in the whites of the eyes turned upward. [Romeo
and Juliet] whoreson: worthless (literally
bastard). [Hamlet] will he, nill he: willy-nilly,
whether he wishes or not. [Hamlet] willow cabin: small hut with willow
(the sign of unrequited love) before it. [Twelfth
Night] wild-goose chase: my following you.
The term "wild-goose chase" was applied to a contest
where two riders started together and as soon as one
obtained the lead, the other had to follow over the same
ground, unless he could overtake him, when the position
was reversed. The name is taken from the way a flock of
geese flies in a line. The phrase has a rather different
meaning now. [Romeo and Juliet] wilt: must. [Romeo and
Juliet] windlasses: roundabout means,
indirect attempts. [Hamlet] wonder-wounded: overcome with
wonder. [Hamlet] wondrous sensible: very deeply
felt. [The Merchant of Venice] worser genius: bad spirit. [The
Tempest] wot: know. [Romeo and
Juliet] yarely: quickly, smartly. [The
Tempest] yerked: stabbed.
[Othello] yoeman: a property owner, but
beneath a gentleman in social rank. [King
Lear] young-eyed: the cherubim, according
to Ezekiel 10:12: were endowed with keenness of vision
above all other heavenly creatures. [The Merchant of
Venice] younker: sucker (colloquial)
[King Henry IV, Part 1]; youngster. [The
Merchant of Venice] your mind hold: if you don't change
your mind; if you are still sane. [Julius
Caesar] Why are you down here?
Common Words & Phrases
in Shakespeare's World
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eyes' windows: eyelids (shutters). [Romeo and Juliet]
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