|
Shakespeare's word |
Meaning (in the sample usage) |
# |
Reference(s) |
Sample usage |
|
sallet |
salad |
3 |
Lear 3.4 |
when the foul fiend rages, eats cow-dung for sallets |
|
scant |
cut short, curtail, make small |
10 |
Lear 2.4 |
tis not in thee ... to scant my sizes |
|
self-subdued |
one who gave up without a struggle |
1 |
Lear 2.2 |
For him attempting who was self-subdued |
|
Sessa |
Be off with you |
3 |
Shrew Ind. Lear 3.4.99 |
let the world slide: sessa!
sessa! let him trot by. |
|
shearman |
shearer of woolen cloth |
1 |
2 HVI 4.2 |
Villain, thy father was a plasterer; |
|
sheep-biter |
sneaky (dog) |
1 |
TN 2.5 |
rascally sheep-biter |
|
shog |
be off, go, move on (used only by Nym) |
2 |
Henry V 2.3 |
Shall we shog? the king will be gone from Southampton. |
|
shoon |
shoes |
2 |
2 HVI 4.2 |
We will not leave one lord, one gentleman: / Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon; / For they are thrifty honest men, |
|
shrift |
to confess |
8 |
Rom 4.2 |
she comes from shrift with merry look |
|
shrine |
image of a saint, or container for such |
5 |
Rom 1.5 |
if I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine |
|
silly-ducking |
low-bowing |
1 |
Lear 2.2 |
twenty silly-ducking observants |
|
simular |
false; specious; counterfeit |
2 |
Lear 3.2 |
Thou perjured, and thou simular man of virtue That art incestuous |
|
sizes |
settled quantities or allowances |
2 |
Lear 2.4 |
tis not in thee ... to scant my sizes |
|
snuffs |
anger, (from snuffing the nose) |
1 |
Lear 3.1 |
what hath been seen ... in snuffs and packings of the dukes |
|
square |
to quarrel, as in "square off" (also in modern sense) |
14 |
Mids 2.1 |
And now they never meet in grove or green, / By fountain clear, or spangled starlight sheen, / But, they do square, that all their elves for fear / Creep into acorn-cups and hide them there. |
|
squiny |
cause to squint |
1 |
Lear 3.4 |
Dost thou squiny at me? |
|
stale |
harlot, laughing-stock urine |
27 |
Shrew 1.1 Ant 1.4.497 |
I pray you, sir, is it your will To make a stale of me amongst these mates? ... Thou did'st drink / The stale of Horses, and the gilded Puddle / Which Beasts would cough at. |
|
staniel |
kestrel |
1 |
TN 2.5 |
with what wing the staniel cheques at it |
|
still |
always |
558 |
Lear 1.1 |
let me still remain / The true blank of thine eye |
|
store |
material, stuff (also in modern sense) |
45 |
Lear 3.6 |
What store her heart is made on. |
|
subscription |
submission; obedience |
1 |
Lear 3.2 |
You owe me no subscription |
|
suggest |
seduce; prompt to evil; tempt, insinuate |
8 |
Rich II |
Suggest his soon-believing adversaries |
|
sumpter |
a horse that carries provisions on a journey |
1 |
Lear 2.4 |
Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter To this detested groom. |
|
superflux |
superabundance; superfluity; an overflowing (?) |
1 |
Lear 3.4 |
That thou mayst shake the superflux to them, |
When
I was in college, struggling through my Signet volume of
Shakespeare, I didn't have the time, money, or inclination to buy audio
tapes of the plays. I've done so recently, and what a difference.
In part, because Shakespeare was meant to be heard (and seen), and in part, because the English language has changed, listening to King Lear, or any of the plays, while reading the text, adds a whole new dimension.
The humor becomes clearer; anger is better conveyed; the
reader/listener at once can absorb so much more of the play. For King Lear this version with Sir Laurence
Olivier