Glossary of Terms
abhor: to hate
androgynous: having both male and female characteristics
antimony: a metallic element
appease: to satisfy, to pacify
ascribe: to assign
bawdy: obscene
berate: to deride
bereft: to deprive
castrate: to remove the testes of
cipher: code
conundrum: a riddle
costive: constipated
cozen: to cheat, to swindle
crotchet: a whim
cuckold: a man whose wife has been unfaithful
debacle: disaster
decry: to denounce
defame: to slander
didactic: serving to teach a lesson, usually a moral lesson
disinherit: to take away one's inheritance
dowry: money bestowed upon a newly wed couple by the father of the bride
dross: trash
eunuch: a person who has been castrated
expiate: to make amends for
extirp: to uproot
flout: to criticize
foil: a minor character who serves to reveal the qualities of a major character
foists: tricks
garrulousness: a tendency to talk excessively
gondola: a narrow boat with a tall stern used in the canals of Venice
hermaphrodite: a person who has both male and female sex organs
humour: demeanor
lecher, satyr: a man who indulges excessively in sexual activity
malice: ill will
moiety: a small portion
mountebank: a salesman who hawks cure-all elixirs
munificent: generous
mutability: changeability
obsequy: deference
obstinate: stubborn
obstreperous: loud, unruly
officious: aggressive in offering one's services
omnipotence: the quality of being all-powerful
palates: tastes
paroxysm: a violent outburst
parricide: the murder of one's father
physic: medicine
portend: to foretell, to predict
prodigy: a sign, an omen
quacksalver: a phony doctor
quintessence: the purest, most essential part
requite: to repay
sadomasochistic: taking pleasure in the pain of oneself and others
scrupulous: meticulously careful
sepulchers: tombs, graves
sloth: laziness
solecism: an error
soliloquy: a dramatic monologue
strumpet: a whore, a harlot
sycophant: a suck-up
wittol: a man who tolerates his wife's infidelity
ClassicNote on Volpone
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