Cymbeline Glossary

Glossary of Terms

"a carbuncle on Phoebus' wheel"

"a rich jewel on the sun god's chariot"

"a hilding for a livery"

"a worthless person only fit to wear servant's clothes"

"Fidele's sickness did make my way long forth"

"thinking about Fidele's sickness made my walk from the cave long and tedious"

"He overbuys me almost the sum he pays"

"he is worth almost as much more than me as the punishment he pays"

"He takes his part to draw upon an exile"

"he takes my father's part by drawing his sword upon an exile [in this case, Posthumus]"

"I do extend him, sir, within himself"

"I praise him within his merit"

"liegers for her sweet"

"ambassadors for her lover"

"lolling the tongue"

"licking the chops"

"Mingle their spurs together"

"mingle their roots together"

"Ods pittikins"

"God's little pity"

"Proud Cleopatra, when she met her Roman"

a reference to Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, and Antony, the Roman general who adored her

"self exhibition"

"same money"

"shift a shirt"

"change your shirt"

"short my word"

"fail in my promise"

"targes of proof"

"tested shields"

"The shes of Italy"

Italian women

"to mart as in a Romish stew"

"to try to buy sex [as in a brothel in Rome]"

"We have been too slight in sufferance"

"we have been too mild in our tolerance"

"words him"

"gives him a reputation"

"worms of Nile"

Asps

Aeneas

the legendary founder of Rome who betrayed Dido at Carthage, causing her to commit suicide in grief

Afric

the poeticization of Africa; refers to any such place Jacobeans would have found desolate

Ajax

a champion soldier of Greece

andirons

fire irons

Arabian Bird

the Phoenix, a mythic bird said to regenerate from its own ashes. Shakespeare explored the phoenix image throughout his career, especially in the poem "The Phoenix and the Turtle"

arras

wall-hanging

Augustus Caesar

Julius Caesar's protege and the first Roman Emperor

basilisk

a mythic reptile similar to a dragon

bugs

monsters

carl

churl

Cassibelan

Cymbeline's predecessor as King of England

charming

capable of protecting someone from evil

cinque-spotted

having five spots

citizen

urban

clotpoll

wooden head

clouted brogues

rough, heavy, hobnailed shoes

colted

bedded

confections

drug compounds

corse

corpse

country base

a popular boys' game

crescent note

a growing reputation

Cydnus

a river in modern-day Turkey

Cytherea

another name for Aphrodite or Venus, the goddess of love and beauty

demesnes

regions

derogation

a derogatory term or phrase

Dian

a poeticization of Diana, goddess of the hunt and of virginity

Diana

the chaste goddess of the hunt and of virginity

emperious

imperious

empery

empire

enforced

raped

enjoys

possesses

fangled

characterized by superficiality

feodary

accomplice

fitment

fit device

franklin

a landholder who ranks below the gentry

fraught

burdened

friend

an ally or loved one; someone who has known another in a sexual context

full-acorn'd

full of acorns; possessing of large testicles

Gallian

French

gaoler

jailer

geck

dupe

giglot

prostitute, usu. male (e.g. "gigolo")

gins

begins

good-conceited

full of good thoughts

Gordian knot

a legendary knot that none could untie, said to have been cut by Alexander the Great

gyves

fetters

haviour

demeanor

Hecuba

Priam's wife, the Queen of Troy, who was famously furious at the Greeks in the Iliad

Hercules

the heroic god who possessed terrific strength

imperseverant

incapable of perceiving

inter'gatories

questionings

jay

prostitute

journal

daily

Jovial

like Jove (i.e. Jupiter); god-like

Julius Caesar

the legendary Roman general who was killed by Roman senators just before he could transform Rome into an empire and become Emperor

Juno

"Hera" in Greek mythology; Zeus' powerful and jealous wife

Jupiter

the Roman name for the Greek god, Zeus, who ruled Mount Olympus and the heavens

kitchen-trulls

kitchen maids

lay

wager

limb-meal

limb from limb

Lud's town

London; according to legend, Cymbeline's grandfather, Lud, founded the town

madding

angering

mainport

a small offering or tribute

martial

war-like

mercurial

swift; like Mercury, the god of speed

mere

absolute

minion

contemptuous term for an underling

moiety

half

mows

grimaces

Mulmutius

the legendary first King of England

Neptune

the god of the sea

nonpareil

paragon; unparalleled

occident

west

ope

open

ordinance

that which Fate has ordained

orisons

prayers

pandar

a panderer; an allusion to Pandar, the go-between for Troilus and Cressida

Pannonians and Dalmatians

inhabitants of the modern-day Balkans

pantler

servant in charge of the pantry

Parthian

a soldier of Parthia, a nation known for its archers on horseback, who would fire volleys of arrows as they retreated

Philomel

a mythic beauty who was raped by Tereus

Phoebus

the god of the sun

proconsul

head counselor

prone

eager

pudency

modesty

puppy

a contemptuous term meaning "doll" or "toy"

puttock

contemptuous term for a kite

quire

choir; settlement of birds

ramps

lascivious women

raps

possesses; grips

reck

reckon

Richard du Champ

"Richard of the Field": a reference to Shakespeare's friend, Richard Field, who was a printer at Stratford-upon-Avon; most likely a compliment

Saturn

Jupiter's father, thought to be slow, cold and gloomy.

seconds

supporters

Severn

a river separating England from Wales

Siena

the leader of Siena (an error on Shakespeare's part, as Siena was a republic)

Sinon

a Trojan who betrayed his cause to the Greeks

sirrah

a contemptuous term directed toward someone of lower class

slip

let someone go

snuff

put out a candle wick

south-fog

south wind, thought in Shakespeare's time to be a bad portent

spur

goad on

statist

statesman

stomach-qualm'd

queasy

stomachers

breast coverings

straight-pight

standing full upright with dignified comportment

synod

an assembly of gods

taper

slender candle

tent

probe; wound

Tereus

an infamous rapist who ravished Philomel and cut out her tongue so that she couldn't report the crime; a character in Ovid's Metamorphoses

Thersites

the low-status soldier immortalized by Homer in the Iliad and by Shakespeare in Troilus and Cressida

thunder-master

an epithet for Jupiter

Titan

the sun

tomboys

prostitutes

troth

fidelity

vantage

opportunity

verier

truer

wanton

young, spoiled child

winking

with eyes closed

winnow

whittle; carve

wrying

erring