beadle: a minor parish official formerly employed in an English church to usher and keep order during

services

beck: a small brook; a creek (chiefly British)

bicorn: having two horns or horn-shaped parts (used in the book to describe a hat)

bodkin: a small, sharply pointed instrument for making holes in fabric or leather

chaffinch: a small European songbird (Fringilla coelebs), the male of which has predominately reddish-
brown plumage

clout: a piece of cloth, especially a baby's diaper

cockatrice: a serpent hatched from a cock's egg and having the power to kill by its glance

comfit: a confection that consists of a piece of fruit, a seed, or a nut coated with sugar

condole: to express sympathy or sorrow (I knew condolences, but I never knew the root)

coppice: a thicket or grove of small trees or shrubs; copse (I knew copse)

costermonger: one who sells fruit, vegetables, fish, or other goods from a cart, barrow, or stand in the
streets (chiefly British)

counterpane: a cover for a bed; bedspread

dilatory: intended to delay

dissimulate: to disguise (one's intentions, for example, under a feigned appearance)

dissolute: lacking moral restraint; indulging in sensual pleasure or vices

drugget: a heavy felted fabric of wool or wool and cotton, used as a floor covering

epitome: a brief summary, as of a book or an article; an abstract

fieldfare: an old world thrush (Turdus pilaris) having gray and reddish-brown plumage

frog: an ornamental looped braid or cord with a button or knot for fastening the front of a garment

fulsome: offensively flattering or insincere

gad: to move about restlessly and with little purpose

garth: a yard, garden, or paddock

gig: a light, two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse

grappa: an Italian brandy distilled from the pomace of grapes used in winemaking

handsel: a gift to express good wishes at the beginning of a new year or enterprise (chiefly British)
lacuna: an empty space or missing part; gap

lapwing: any of several Old World birds of the genus Vanellus related to the plovers, especially Vanellus
vanellus, having a narrow crest and erratic flight behavior

lorgnette: a pair of eyeglasses or opera glasses with a short handle

manticore: a legendary monster having the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon or
scorpion

mantua: a loose gown, open in front to reveal an underskirt, worn by European women in the 17th and
18th centuries

mendacious: lying; untruthful

parlous: perilous; dangerous

pease: a pea (I knew "pease porridge hot" from the rhyme, but never knew what a "pease" was)

pediment: a wide, low-pitched gable surmounting the facade of a building in the Grecian style

pelisse: a long cloak or outer robe, usually of fur or with a fur lining

phaeton: a light, four-wheeled, open carriage, usually drawn by a pair of horses

pianoforte: piano
postilion: one who rides the near horse of the leaders to guide the horses drawing a coach

potboy: a boy or man who works in an inn or a public house serving customers and doing chores (chiefly
British)

seneschal: an official in a medieval noble household in charge of domestic arrangements and the
administration of servants; a steward or major-domo

settle: a long wooden bench with a high back, often including storage space beneath the seat

skep: a beehive, especially one of straw

sough: a soft murmuring or rustling sound

thaumaturgy: the working of miracle or magic feats

thrall: one, such as a slave or serf, who is held in bondage

undercroft: a crypt, especially one used for burial under a church

verger: one who takes care of the interior of a church and acts as an attendant during ceremonies

viol: any of a family of stringed instruments, chiefly of the 16th and 17th centuries, having a fretted
fingerboard, usually six strings, and a flat back and played with a curved bow

wyvern: a two-legged dragon having wings and a barbed tail

concupiscence: a strong desire, especially sexual desire; lust

culm: the stem of a grass or similar plant

plimsoll: (Chiefly British) a rubber-soled cloth shoe; a sneaker

prodrome: an early symptom indicating the onset of an attack or a disease

woad: an annual Old World plant (Isatis tinctoria) in the mustard family, formerly cultivated for its leaves
that yield a blue dye

banquette: a platform lining a trench or parapet wall on which soldiers may stand when firing

boffin: (chiefly British) a scientist, especially one engaged in research

burn: a small stream; a brook

crepuscular: of or like twilight; dim

croft: (chiefly British) a small farm, especially a tenant farm

empyrean: the highest reaches of heaven, believed by the ancients to be a realm of pure fire or light

gink: (slang) a man, especially one regarded as foolish or contemptible

piezoelectricity: the generation of electricity or of electric polarity in dielectric crystals subjected to

mechanical stress, or the generation of stress in such crystals subjected to an applied voltage
silviculture: the care and cultivation of forest trees

strath: a wide, flat river valley

tenebrous: dark and gloomy

vapid: lacking liveliness, animation, or interest; dull

(I've seen vapid many times, but I never knew its meaning)

waggish: characteristic of or resembling a wag; jocular or witty

whinstone: any of various hard, dark-colored rocks, especially basalt and chert

aerostat: an aircraft, especially a balloon or dirigible, deriving its lift from the buoyancy of surrounding
air rather than from aerodynamic motion

amanuensis: one who is employed to take dictation or to copy manuscript

ambuscade: an ambush

avuncular: regarded as being similar to an uncle, especially in benevolence

chiliasm: the doctrine stating that Jesus will reign on earth for 1,000 years

demimonde: women prostitutes considered as a group

derailleur: a device for shifting gears on a bicycle by moving the chain between sprocket wheels of
different sizes

epiphenomenon: a secondary phenomenon that results from and accompanies another

febrile: of, relating to, or characterized by fever; feverish

grama: any of various grasses of the genus Bouteloua of western North America and South America,
forming dense tufts or mats and often used as pasturage

millenarian: of, relating to, or believing in the doctrine of the millennium

mucilage: a sticky substance used as an adhesive

ocotillo: a cactuslike tree (Fouquieria splendens) of Mexico and the southwest United States, having
clusters of scarlet tubular flowers

pastern: the part of a horse's leg between the fetlock and the hoof

perihelion: the point nearest the sun in the orbit of a planet or other celestial body

picayune: petty; mean

shofar: a trumpet made of a ram's horn, blown by the ancient Hebrews during religious ceremonies and
as a signal in battle, now sounded in the synagogue during Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur

telomere: either end of a chromosome; a terminal chromosome