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Full Glossary for House of Mirth
bezique a card game resembling pinochle, but using a double deck of sixty-four cards comprised of two of each card above the six.
book-muslin with gigot sleeves a light cotton fabric, once used to cover books, that was fashioned into sleeves that ballooned from below the shoulder to the forearm.
chary not taking chances; careful; cautious.
Cole's Voyage of Life a series of engravings by Thomas Cole (1801–48) depicting rural New York landscapes. Copies of the engravings were inexpensive, and ownership of the engravings was considered middle-class.
crepe de Chine a soft, rather thin crepe, usually made of silk, used for blouses, lingerie, and so on.
cutting a book the necessary practice of slicing open the paper folios of books and magazines in order to read both printed sides.
Doucet dresses fashionable dresses designed by French dressmaker Jacques Doucet.
Engadine valley of the upper Inn River, East Switzerland, that was the site of many resorts.
gargote a diner that is considered too downscale by the American travelers in Europe.
Girls Club a social and/or exercise club for young, single female laborors.
hansom a two-wheeled covered carriage for two passengers.
jeune fille à marier a young woman ready for marriage.
La Bruyère Jean de la Bruyère (1645–96), a French essayist and moralist.
malum prohibitum a violation of social custom.
mauvaise honte a disingenous display of shame used defensively to protect the actor from chastisement rather than out of an honest sense of remorse.
Omar Khayyám Persian poet and mathematician; author of the The Rubáiyát.
ormolu an imitation gold made of an alloy of copper and tin.
oubliette a concealed dungeon with a trap door in the ceiling as its only opening.
Paquin a turn-of-the-twentieth-century female French designer.
parterres ornamental garden areas in which the flower beds and paths form patterns.
point de Milan fine Italian lace.
Quirinal the Palazzo del Quirinal, built as the Roman summer home of the popes, eventually housed offices of the Italian government.
Sarum Rule the pre-Reformation, Latin liturgy that is the source of the Anglican religion.
tableau vivant a parlor game in which a participant attempts to replicate a well-known piece of art, history, or literary scene.
Veronese Paolo Veronese (1528–88), an Italian decorative painter famous for his ceiling painting of such scenes as the Last Supper.