ACT IV - Scene III — Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words from ACT IV - Scene III

orisons (noun)

Prayers or supplications, especially those addressed to God or a divine being.

behoveful (adjective)

Necessary, needful, or required for a particular purpose.

cull'd (verb)

Selected or gathered carefully from a larger group.

dismal (adjective)

Causing gloom, dread, or depression; in Elizabethan usage, specifically suggesting something ill-omened or sinister.

subtilly (adverb)

Subtly or craftily; in a cunning or deceitful manner. An archaic spelling of "subtly."

minist'red (verb)

Administered or dispensed, particularly medicine or a remedy.

stifled (verb)

Suffocated or smothered; unable to breathe due to lack of air.

conceit (noun)

In Elizabethan usage, an idea, thought, or mental image—especially one that is elaborate or fanciful. Different from the modern meaning of vanity.

receptacle (noun)

A container or holder; here used to describe the vault or tomb that holds the bones of Juliet's ancestors.

mandrakes (noun)

Plants of the nightshade family with forked roots resembling the human form. Medieval legend held that mandrakes screamed when uprooted and that the sound could cause madness or death.

distraught (adjective)

Deeply agitated, disturbed, or driven to madness by worry or grief.

environed (verb)

Surrounded or enclosed on all sides.

rapier (noun)

A slender, sharply pointed sword used primarily for thrusting, common in the 16th and 17th centuries.