Pope's Poems and Prose Glossary

Glossary of Terms

beau (n.)

suitor

beauteous (adj.)

beautiful

billet-doux (n.)

a love letter

bodkin (n.)

a large needle

casuistry (n.)

books of seemingly solid but false reasoning

chagrin (n.)

disquietude or distress of mind caused by humiliation, disappointment, or failure

clod (n.)

earth

coquette (n.)

a woman who endeavors without sincere affection to gain the attention and admiration of men; flirt

costive (adj.)

constipated

denizen (n.)

inhabitant

disport (v.)

1. to divert, amuse; 2. to display

equipage (n.)

1. a horse-drawn carriage with its servants; 2. retinue (archaic)

ethereal (adj.)

celestial, heavenly, unworldly, spiritual

expatiate (v.)

range; expound

forfex (n.)

scissors

gilt (adj.)

covered with gold or gilt

glebe (n.)

farmland

hoary (adj.)

gray or white with age

impertinence (n.)

1. the quality or state of not being restrained within the bounds of propriety or good taste; 2. characterized by insolent rudeness

lampoon (n.)

a harsh satire usually directed against an individual

latent (adj.)

hidden

malignant (adj.)

1. malcontent, disaffected; 2. evil in nature, influence, or effort; injurious

mead (n.)

meadow

mien (n.)

appearance

pinion (n.)

quill

pipkin (n.)

an earthen pot; it walks like the three-legged stools that Hephaestus made for the gods in The Iliad

pomatum (n.)

scented, apple-based ointments applied to the face and hair

propitious (adj.)

favorably disposed, benevolent

pyre (n.)

a combustible heap used for burning ceremonial objects as a part of a spiritual rite

rapine (n.)

pillage, plunder

recruits (n.)

supplies

rend (v.)

1. to split or tear apart by violence; 2. to pierce with sound

repair (v.)

assemble

riband (n.)

a ribbon used especially as a decoration

sacrilegious (n.)

gross irreverence toward a hallowed person, place, or thing

seraph (n.)

high-ranking angel

snuff (n.)

pulverized tobacco to be inhaled through the nose or chewed

spleenwort (n.)

a kind of fern, purgative of spleen

springe (n.)

snare

strategem (n.)

an artifice or trick in war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy

swarthy (adj.)

of a dark color, complexion, or cast

termagant (n.)

an overbearing or nagging woman; shrew

timorous (adj.)

1. of a timid disposition; 2. expressing or suggesting timidity

tincture (n.)

color, tint

toilet (n.)

the act or process of dressing and grooming oneself

transient (adj.)

passing especially quickly into and out of existence

twain (adj.)

two

verdant (adj.)

green

virago (n.)

a woman of great stature, strength, and courage

vouchsafe (v.)

to grant as a privilege or special favor