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Shakespearean Vocabulary

Shakespearean Vocabulary

C

  • 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]

D

  • 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]