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Full Glossary
presage predict; forecast.
princox a coxcomb; fop. Capulet is keen to belittle Tybalt and force him to submit to his will as head of the household.
prodigious both wonderful and portentous.
promotion advancement in rank.
prorogue postpone; delay.
prorogued delayed; postponed.
provision food and other supplies.
puling fool whimpering child.
punto reverso a backhanded thrust.
purple fountains jets of blood.
Queen Mab a fairy queen who controlspeople's dreams.
quit reward you for.
quote note or observe.
rage insanity, madness.
rail'st complain.
rancour a continuing and bitter hate or ill will.
rate to scold severely; chide.
rebeck a three stringed fiddle.
receptacle repository or sepulcher.
reeky emitting a strong, unpleasant smell.
remnants of packthread remains of strong, thick thread or twine for tying bundles, packages, and so on.
residence the place in which a person or thing resides.
riddling puzzling or enigmatic.
roe fish eggs.
ropery roguery.
rosemary evergreen herb which was used as a symbol of remembrance.
runagate fugitive (runaway).
rust corruption, decay.
sack to plunder or loot.
searchers of the town health officers whose duty it was to view dead bodies and report on the cause of death.
set cock-a-hoop be boastful or conceited. Capulet is concerned that Tybalt's anger and lack of restraint will spoil the feast.
settled has stopped flowing.
she should be advanced that is, through the socially advantageous marriage to Paris.
she steal . . . hooks emphasizes the pleasures and dangers of Romeo and Juliet's love for each other. The love is a sweet bait or lure and the fearful hooks allude to Romeo's status as a Montague.
shield forbid.
shrieks like mandrakes a mandrake is a poisonous plant whose root was thought to have magic powers because of its fancied resemblance to the human body. It was believed that the mandrake would shriek as it was pulled out of the ground, and to hear a mandrake's shriek was thought to bring death or madness.
shrift confession.
sick and green pale and sickly. Green was the color associated with maids.
simple feeble or foolish.
simpleness foolishness.
sirrah a contemptuous term of address, here used to indicate the difference in social status between Capulet and his servant.
skains-mates cutthroat companions.
smatter to utter or gossip; an onomatopoeic word like "chatter."
society companionship.
soft hush! Wait a moment!
sojourn to live somewhere temporarily.
soon-speeding gear fast-acting.
Spanish blades the best swords were made with Spanish steel.
sped done for.
star-cross'd lovers lovers destined to an unhappy fate.
stark stiff or rigid, as a corpse.
state circumstances.
state rank.
stay undergo.
steads is of benefit to.
stinted stopped crying.
strange reserved, aloof.
subtly hath ministered cunningly has administered.
suit a petition at court which requires the influence of the courtier for it to be heard, for which he will receive financial reward.
suit the act of wooing; courtship.
supple government muscular movement.
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