Act IV - Scene III Brutus' Tent — Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words from Act IV - Scene III Brutus' Tent

condemn'd (verb (past participle))

Officially declared guilty and sentenced to punishment; here, publicly censured and disgraced.

mart (verb)

To trade or sell in a marketplace; to traffic in something that should not be bought or sold.

choler (noun)

Anger or irascibility; in Elizabethan humoral theory, an excess of yellow bile causing a hot temper.

bouge (verb)

To budge or give way; to yield ground to another person.

spleen (noun)

In Elizabethan usage, the organ thought to be the seat of sudden passions, spite, and ill temper.

vaunting (adjective (verbal))

Boasting or bragging; making extravagant claims about one's abilities.

drachmas (noun)

Ancient Greek and Roman silver coins; used as a general term for money.

indirection (noun)

Dishonest or devious means; an indirect or underhanded method of achieving something.

rived (verb (past participle))

Split or torn apart violently; broken asunder.

conn'd (verb (past participle))

Memorized or learned by heart; studied carefully so as to be able to recite.

cynic (noun)

Originally a follower of the ancient Greek philosophical school that rejected social conventions; here, a crude or ill-mannered versifier.

jigging (adjective (verbal))

Composing or performing trivial rhymes or doggerel verse; producing frivolous entertainment.

proscription (noun)

An official decree condemning persons to death and confiscating their property; a political purge carried out by those in power.

niggard (verb)

To give or use sparingly; to be miserly or stingy with something.

o'erwatch'd (adjective)

Exhausted from staying awake too long; weary from keeping watch or losing sleep.

murtherous (adjective)

Archaic spelling of "murderous"; deadly, capable of killing.

mace (noun)

A heavy weapon or ceremonial staff; here, a symbol of Sleep personified as an officer who strikes people into unconsciousness.

apparition (noun)

A ghostly or supernatural figure; a startling or unexpected sight that appears suddenly.