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ECLIPSE Glossary
All terms in this glossary can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary, volumes 1-20, 2nd Edition, 1989, Clarendon Press, Oxford, ISBN 0-19-861186-2 (set)
Bairn
a child; son or daughter
Baldpate
one who has a bald head
Banbury
town in Oxfordshire, England, formly noted for the number and zeal of its Puritan inhabitants, still for its cakes
Baw
ejaculation of disgust, aversion of contempt; probably first directed against tastes or smells (bah!)
Bawbee
of doubtful origin: has been conjecturally identified with baby
Beaten
struck with repeated blows; trodden, worn hard, bare or plain by repeated passage; well-worn, trite
Beck
brook or stream, used in literature to connote a brook with a stony bed or rugged course like those of the North country in England; a mute signal or significant gesture, especially one indicating assent or notifying a command
Bee
a busy worker; a ring or torque of metal, usually meant for an arm or neck but in one case used as a finger ring
Blithe
mild, gentle, kind, merciful; the external manifestation of one's own pleased or happy frame of mind, and hence even to the state itself
Bough
bough of a tree is an exclusive English development; one of the larger limbs/offshoots of a tree, a main branch -- also applied to a smaller branch; branch of a family
Bow
an inclination of the body or head in salutation and in token of respect, reverence, submission, etc.; an obeisance; dwelling, habitation; a stock of cattle on a farm, a herd
Bowl
globular vessel to hold liquids, rather wide than deep; a sphere, globe, ball
Brickbat
a fragment of brick, less than half its length; the typical ready missile where stones are scarce
Brown Paper
coarse, stout kind of paper made of unbleached materials; chiefly used for wrapping
Bunting
term of endearment; meaning may possibly be as in Jamieson's 'buntin', short and thick, as a buntinbrat, a plump child
Caper
a frolicsome leap, like that of a playful kid; a frisky movement, especially in dancing
Chopper
one who chops or cuts into pieces; an instrument used for cleaving or cutting up; a machine gun or gunner; a helicopter
Cock-horse
apparently a nursery term, applied to anything a child rides astride upon, a stick with a horse's head, a hobby-horse, anyone's leg or knee; mounted aloft, perched up
Cockle-shells
shell of a bivalve mollusc; usually a single valve of a shell
Comfits
a sweetmeat made of some fruit, root, etc., presented with sugar; now usually a small round or oval mass of sugar enclosing a caraway seed, almond, etc.; a sugar plum
Craft
strength, power, might, force; intellectual power, skill, art; occult art, magic
Crown
the top part of the skull, the vertex; an ornamental fillet, wreath or similar encircling ornament for the head worn for personal adornment, or as a mark of honour or achievement
Crumpled Horn
bent together by compression, incurved, crooked; bent spirally, curved
Curds
coagulated substance formed from milk by the action of acids, either naturally as when milk is left to itself, or artificially by the addition of rennet, etc., made into cheese or eaten as a food
Dame
lady, mistress, feminine of lord, master; a female ruler, superior or head - superior of a nunnery, an abbess, prioress, etc.; lady of the house, a housewife; the title of women members of the order of the British Empire
Dicker
number of 10; to barter, exchange
Diddle
to walk unsteadily, as a child, to toddle; to sing without distinct utterance of words; the sound of a fiddle
Dob
variant of dab -- to set or put down with a sharp, abrupt motion, throw, fling down in a rough, careless, untidy manner; to betray, inform against
Dock
solid, fleshy part of an animal's tail; enclosure in a criminal court in which the prisoner is placed at his trial; to cut short some part, especially in the tail, hair, or similar appendage; to curtail
Dollar
English name for German thaler, a large silver coin of varying value, current in the German states from the 16th century; equal to three marks
Gammon
the ham or haunch of a swine;ridiculous nonsense suited to deceive simple persons only; to feign, pretend
Gay
of persons, their attributes andactions; full of or disposed to joy and mirth; manifesting or characterized by joyous mirth
Hay-cock
a conical heap of hay in a field
Hayrick
a haystack
Horn
the hollow horn of an animal (without the core) used as a vessel or a musical instrument, with senses thence developed; a non-deciduous excrescence, often curved and pointed, consisting of an epidermal sheath growing about a bony core, on the head of certain mammals, as cattle, sheep, goats, antelopes, etc., and serving as a weapon or defence
Hush-a-bye
child's name for 'sleep'or 'bed'; a word used in lulling a child
Kite
a bird of prey of the family Falconidae and subfamily Milanae, having long wings, tail usually forked, and no tooth in the bill -- formerly commonin England but now very rare; a person who preys upon others,a rapacious person; a harper; also more indefinitely as a term of reproach or detestation
Knave
a male child, a boy/lad employed as a servant; in playing cards: the lowest card of each suit, bearing the representation of a soldier or servant, the jack
Lap
a part (of a garment or the like) either hanging down or projecting so as to admit of being folded over - a flap, lappet; the front portion of the body from the waist to the knees of a person seated, considered with its covering garments as the place in or on which a child is nursed or any object held
Link
compartively level or gentlyundulating sandy ground near the seashore, covered with turf, coarse grass, etc.; a ridge or bank; one of the series of rings or loops which form a chain; a connecting part, whetherin material or immaterial sense
Linnet
a common and well-knownsongbird, Linota cannbina, of the family Fringillidae. Its plummage is brown or warm grey; but in the summer the breast and crown of the cock become crimson or rose-colour.
Malt
barley or other grain prepared for brewing or distilling by steeping, germinating and kiln-drying, or by gelitinization, etc.
Marry
join in wedlock or matrimony; to join for life as husband and wife
Master
a man having control or authority; one having direction or control over the action of another or others
Merry
of things: pleasing, agreeable; causing pleasure or happiness, pleasing, delightful; of persons and their attributes: full of animated enjoyment, joyous, mirthful, hilarious
Muscles
any one of the contractile fibrous bands or bundles, having the function of producing movement in the animal body, which conjointly make up the muscular system
Packet
a small pack, package, or parcel: in earliest use applied to a parcel of lettersor dispatches, and especially to the state parcel or 'mail' of dispatches to and from foreign countries
Pall
to beat, strike, knock (down); to become faint; to decay, waste away, rot; a rich cloth spread upon or over something; a garment, a vestment
Patty
patty-cake; a patty
Pease
the earlier form of pea
Peck
a measure of capacity used fordry goods; the fourth part of a bushel, or two gallons
Pie
a chattering or saucy person, a'chatter-pie'; a dish composed of meat, fowl, fish, or vegetables. etc., in and/or covered with a layer of paste and baked
Plaster>
an external curative application, consisting of a solid or semi-solid substancespread upon a piece of muslin, skin, or some similarmaterial, and of such a nature as to be adhesive at the temperature of the body; used for the local application of a medicament or for closing a wound, and sometimes to give mechanical support
Plumb
the fruit of the tree Prunus domestica, a roundish fleshy drupe of varying size and colour,covered with glaucous mealy bloom, and having a somewhat flatpointed stone and sweet pulp; a dried grape or raisin as used for puddings, cakes, etc.
Pip
variant of pipe; common name for the seeds of fleshy fruits, as the apple, pear, orange, etc.
Pokers
an instrument for poking or stirring a fire, consisting of a stiff metal rod, one endof which is fitted with or formed into a handle
Pother
a choking smoke or atmosphere of dust; a disturbance, commotion, turmoil; mental perturbation of tumult; trouble, fuss, display of sorrow or grief
Pudding
expressing the essential ingredient as pease; a prepartion of food of a soft or moderately firm consistency, in which the ingredients, animal or vegetable, are either mingled in a farinaceous basis(chiefly of flour) or are enclosed in a farinaceous crust(cf. dumpling) and cooked by boiling or steaming
Rawly
with to leave: in an unfinished state; at an immature age; ignorantly, without sufficient knowledge of experience; crudely
Rook
a black, raucous-voiced Europeanand Asiatic bird, nesting in colonies, one of the commonest of the crowtribe, and in the north of Britain usually called a crow; a cheat, swindler, or sharper, specifically in gaming
Sempstress
a.k.a. seamster, seamstress,a woman who seams or sews; a needle woman whose occupation isplain sewing as distinguished from dress or mantle making, decorative embroidery, etc.
Shroud
loppings off a tree, branches or twigs cut off; to clothe; to give shlter or housing to; to hide from view, as by a veil, darkness cloud; to put a shroud on (a corpse), lay in a shroud; hence to prepare for burial
Spin
an act of spell of spinning; rapid or lively movement; abbreviation or spinster; to draw out and twist the fibres of some suitable material, such as wool orflax, so as to form a continuous thread
Sport
pleasant pastime; entertainmentor amusement; to amuse, entertain, or recreate oneself, especially by active exercise in the open air; to take part in some game or play
Stile
an arrangement of steps, rungs or the like, contrived to allow passage over or through a fence to one person at a time, while forming a barrier to the passage of sheep or cattle
Summary
of a statement of account: containing or comprising the chief points or the sum and substance of a matter; performed or effected by a short method; without delay
Sweetmeat
sweet food, as sugared cakes or pastry, confectionary; preserved or candied fruits, sugared nuts, etc.; also globules, lozenges, 'drops,' or 'sticks' made of sugar with fruit or other flavouring or filling
Threescore
three times 20; 60
Tongs
an implement consisting of two limbs or 'legs' connected by a hinge, pivot, or spring, by which their lower-ends are brought together so as to grasp and take up objects which it is impossible or inconvenient to lift with the hand
Tuffet
a hassock or footstool; tuft; a hillock, mound
Vinegar
a liquid (consisting of acetic acid in a dilute form) produced by the acetous fermentation of wine and some other alcoholic liquors or special compounds andemployed either pure or with various admixtures in the preparation of food and in the arts, etc.; to treat with vinegar in some way; to add or apply vinegar to; to restore by means of vinegar
Whey
the serum or watery part of milk which remains after the separation of the curd by coagulation, especially in the manufacture of cheese
Wright
an artificer or handicraftsman, especially a constructive workman; desert, what one has deserved; to build, contruct, repair
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