fanlight: semicircular window above a door or another window, often with fanlike ribs
barratry: vexatious litigation, judicial bribery, corrupt preferment, or maritime fraud
symplegades: cliffs at the entrance of the Black Sea said to crush passing ships
usufruct: the right to use or profit from a thing not owned or thereby damaged
vatinian: intense or bitter, only of hatred (after Vatinius, a much-hated Roman)
superfetation: development of a second fetus when one is already present
sfumato: in painting, shading or gradation between areas of different color
proslambanomenos: in ancient Greek music, the lowest note on the scale
manqué: unfulfilled, unrealized, or frustrated, particularly in one’s calling
thole: upright pin in a boat’s gunwale used as a fulcrum for an oar
belletrist: one involved in belles-lettres (i.e. aesthetic literature)
glair: egg white or something resembling or derived from same
winze: a vertical or inclined shaft in a mine; or in Scots, a curse
tergiversate: to practice evasion, ambiguity, or apostasy
farinaceous: starchy or mealy in composition or texture
ebriety: drunkenness or exhilaration (i.e. vs. sobriety)
breenge: a violent forward movement, lunge or dash
wadmal: a thick woolen fabric for outer garments
chunter: to mutter or grumble incessantly
tormina: severe stomach pain
snath: the handle of a scythe
spadassin: a swordsman
colliery: coal mine
algid: cold
Vocabulary: Threap what you sew edition
compurgation: trial in which numerous (often 12) witnesses swear to the defendant’s innocence
agate: typographical unit of approximately 5.5 points, among the smallest regularly printed
gremial: a cloth spread on a bishop’s lap during mass; or, lap-related; or, a confidant
bombazine: also -zeen, a silk or silk-wool textile often used in mourning garments
corybantic: ecstatic or frenetic, after the korybantes dancers of ancient Phrygia
flummery: sweetened gruel or pudding; or, meaningless or deceptive language
burgoo: a thick stew or porridge; or, an occasion on which one eats it
gleet: mucus or viscous bodily fluid, especially of a hawk or urethra
sillabub: dessert of thickened cream mixed with wine or juice
mammothrept: a spoiled child; literally, ‘grandmother-raised’
fearnaught: a thick woolen fabric, or garment made thereof
cicisbeo: a married woman’s lover or male companion
anfractuous: winding, circuitous, or complicated
clemmed: pinched or compressed, or starving
lamiter: a lame or otherwise disabled person
redd up: to tidy, in Pittsburgh-local dialect
roborative: fortifying, especially a drink
niello: black alloy used in decorations
threap: to scold, contradict, or blame
mumchance: silent or dumbstruck
selden: archaic form of ‘seldom’
snaffle: a jointed bit for a horse
cholagogue: a bilious purgative
kickshaw: a trifle or delicacy
pech: pant
Vocabulary: Graith in the Grith of the Garth Edition
weet: also wit or wot, to know (but in the context discovered, ‘come wind or weet,’ probably wet)
perdue: a soldier sent on an especially dangerous mission (fr. French, ‘forgotten’)
gare: in water, a pier; on land, a station; in a person, greed or miserliness
electuary: medicine mixed with sugar or honey for easier consumption
garth: a courtyard, esp. within a cloister; or, a hoop for children’s play
sendal: fine silk fabric used in the middle ages, or a garment of it
grith: in old English law, sanctuary provided by church or crown
troke: also troak or truck, to barter or trade, or the items traded
corrie: a bowl-like terrain feature formed by retreating glaciers
inexpugnable: unable to be overcome or driven away by force
eft: certain terrestrial newts or developmental stages thereof
syth: also sith, sithe, etc, relatives of sithence, meaning since
graith: equipment, or to equip, or to be equipped (graithed)
thrawart: stubborn and obstinate, or twisted and distorted
umbles: also numbles, the edible organs of animals
chrysoprase: gemlike green chalcedony
trisulk: also trisulc, triple-pronged
speer: also speir, to ask or inquire
capriped: having feet like a goat’s
sike: a small stream or ditch
jimp: scant or dainty
fico: a trifle, or a fig
Vocabulary: Return to Shender Edition
blackleg: one of several blackening diseases of plant and animal; or, a swindler in racing or sport
antinomian: believing morals are irrelevant to those already bound for heaven
espalier: a framework by which a plant is made to grow in a specific shape
jess: in falconry, a strap around a bird’s leg to which a leash attaches
varvel: in falconry, a ring with the owner’s name attached to a jess
lunette: in architecture or fortification, a half-moon-shaped space
equerry: in a royal household, the officer in charge of the horses
cresset: a pendant or mounted metal cup used as a brazier
dree: a tedious or dreary noise, or to suffer hearing one
ukase: an order by absolute authority, esp. a czar’s
drysalter: a dealer of dry chemicals and dyes
delate: to inform or report, esp. to denounce
disembogue: to discharge or pour forth
shend: to reproach, shame, or injure
prevenient: before or in advance of
vermeil: vermilion, or gilded metal
yegg: a safecracker or burglar
izard: a Pyrenean antelope
langret: a loaded die
hautboy: an oboe
Vocabulary: Writhen Shine Edition
blackleg: in labor, a scab; in cards, a cheat; in zoology and botany, a bacterial or fungal disease
fettle: condition; or, to finish a cast piece or repair a furnace by removing extra material
espalier: a shrub or tree grown flat against a wall, or the framework used to do so
caducity: the quality of frailness or elderliness, or being transitory or perishable
poll evil: a condition among horses in which the back of the head swells
revetment: angled fortification to absorb the force from a body of water
marcescent: withering but not yet dropping (e.g. leaves in early fall)
withes: supple twigs or rope made from such; also spelled withies
electrolier: a chandelier with electric lights rather than candles
dottle: the plug of ash and tobacco left in a pipe after smoking
hod-me-dod: a snail, or a girl’s curls. In Norfolk, a hedgehog.
carlin: in Scotland, an old woman; also, a pug
cairngorm: a smoky yellow or dark quartz
enfeoff: to grant someone a feudal estate
fulgurant: like lightning, flashy or dazzling
writhen: twisted, wound, or cortorted
swot: scholar or studious person
yegg: a burglar or safecracker