Jerusalem's Lot Vocabulary

Vocabulary for Jerusalem's Lot

Inimitable

Impossible to copy; so good or unusual that it can’t be copied.

Ornate

Intricate, decorated, complex patterns.

Abolitionist

A person who favors abolition of a practice or institution (ex: against slavery).

Execrable

Extremely bad or unpleasant.

Besotted

Intoxicated, drunk (or strongly infatuated).

Scuttering

Move hurriedly with short steps.

Jaunts

Short excursion, journey for pleasure.

Lair

Place where a wild animal (especially a fierce/dangerous one) lives.

Lore

Traditions & knowledge passed down from person to person (likely by word of mouth).

Disquieting

Inducing feelings of anxiety or worry.

Flighty

Fickle & irresponsible.

Steeple

Church tower & spire.

Pestiferous

Harboring infection & disease.

Antiquarian

Related to antiques or rare books, or a person who collects or studies antiques/antiquities.

Wrought

Archaic past/past particle of work, or beaten metal (shaped by hammering).

Dissuade

Persuade [someone to not do something].

Alcove

A recess in the wall of a room or garden.

Styx

Mythical river (found in Greek mythology).

Mouldering

Slowly decay, disintegrate.

Desecrated

To treat something (sacred) with violent disrespect.

Prodigious

Remarkable, impressive.

Cassock

Full length garment worn by Christian clergy/members of church.

Octogenarian

Person between 80 & 89 years old.

Putrescence

Process of decay.

Spire

Pointy thing on top of a building (like a church).

Ichor

In Greek mythology, a fluid that flows in the veins of the gods; watery discharge from a wound.

Blasphemous

Sacrilegious against God or sacred things, profane.

Pustulant

Thing that causes pustules (spot on skin filled with pus).

Perpetrated

Carry out or commit a harmful/illegal action (do something bad).

Sired

Cause the birth of.

Committal

In the context of the story; own, in his possession. Act of sending a person to an institution

Increase Mather

person, involved in the Salem witch trials

Rubens

Peter Paul Rubens, an artist