ACT I - Scene V — Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words from ACT I - Scene V

trencher (noun)

A wooden plate or platter used for serving food at medieval feasts.

marchpane (noun)

Marzipan; a confection made of sugar and almonds, considered a delicacy at Elizabethan feasts.

visor (noun)

A mask worn at a masquerade ball to conceal one's identity.

solemnity (noun)

A formal ceremony or celebration; here referring to the Capulet feast.

fleer (verb)

To laugh or grin mockingly; to sneer or jeer at someone.

portly (adjective)

Dignified, stately, and well-mannered (in Elizabethan usage, not related to body size).

disparagement (noun)

The act of speaking about someone or treating them in a way that shows disrespect or lack of worth.

semblance (noun)

An outward appearance or show, especially one that does not reflect true feelings.

princox (noun)

An impertinent or presumptuous young person; a conceited boy.

choler (noun)

Anger or irritability; one of the four humors in medieval medicine believed to cause a hot temper.

profane (verb)

To treat something sacred with irreverence or disrespect; to violate the sanctity of.

palmers (noun)

Pilgrims who have visited the Holy Land, so called because they carried palm branches as proof of their journey.

prodigious (adjective)

Ominous, monstrous, or portentous; in Elizabethan usage, suggesting something unnatural or foreboding.

rapier (noun)

A slender, sharply pointed sword used primarily for thrusting, the weapon of choice for Elizabethan gentlemen.

forswear (verb)

To renounce or deny something under oath; to swear that something is false.

scathe (verb)

To harm, injure, or damage; to cause suffering or punishment.

fay (noun)

Faith; used as a mild oath meaning "by my faith" in Elizabethan English.