Everyman: Morality Play Glossary

Glossary of Terms

allegory

a form of metaphor in which abstract ideas or principles are represented as concrete - as characters, figures, or events. In Everyman, for example, abstract ideas like good deeds and strength are represented as people named Good Deeds and Strength.

alms

good deeds

baleys

whip

book of count

literally is a "book of account": the same as a book of reckoning

book of reckoning

see "reckoning": the "book of reckoning" is the book in which, in Christian doctrine, all a person's sins and good deeds are recorded

cousin

in medieval English, not the same as the modern version: it is a more general term meaning "member of the same family"

dread

(medieval English) fear

fain

(medieval English) glad

fellowship

friendship, company

forsake

desert, leave behind, run away from

Job

a character in the Old Testament who maintained his faith in God even when tested with severe hardship and misfortune

kind

(in medieval English) kindred, family, blood relations

quick

(medieval English) alive

reckoning

"reckoning" means literally "counting up", but colloquially, a "day of reckoning" is the time when man will be judged by God, and all his actions and behaviour taken into account

richesse

(medieval English) riches, wealth

sacrament

in the words of Augustus of Hippo, "a visible sign of an invisible reality". A sacrament is a manifestation of God's presence in a concrete form - most typically, in the way that Christians believe Jesus to be physically present in the Communion bread and wine.

tapster

an inn keeper, pub owner or tavern keeper

timorous

nervous, frightened, shy

treatise

a long consideration of a certain subject in depth

unkind

(medieval English) undutiful