The Good Earth Study Guide

Glossary of Terms

Acquiesce

to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively

Ardent

characterized by warmth of feeling typically expressed in eager zealous support or activity

Barrow

a cart with a shallow box body, two wheels, and shafts for pushing it

Befit

to be proper or becoming to

Betroth

to promise to marry, to give in marriage

Cauldron

a large kettle or boiler

Clamber

to climb awkwardly (as by scrambling)

Consternation

amazement or dismay that hinders or throws into confusion

Despondent

having lost all or nearly all hope, a deep dejection arising from a conviction of the uselessness of further effort

Firewagon

The method of transportation that takes Wang Lung and his family to the South. A steam engine. "[W]agons, chained one to the other and drawn neither by man nor beast, but by a machine beathing forth fire and water like a dragon." (91)

Frugal

characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources

Fruition

the state of bearing fruit

Girdle

an article of dress encircling the body usually at the waist

Gourmand

who is excessively fond of eating and drinking

Haggard

having a worn or emaciated appearance

Harlot

a prostitute

Hoe

any of various implements for tilling, mixing, or raking; especially an implement with a thin flat blade on a long handle used especially for cultivating, weeding, or loosening the earth around plants

Imperturbable

marked by extreme calm, impassivity, and steadiness

Importunate

troublesomely urgent, overly persistent in request or demand

Impudent

marked by contemptuous or cocky boldness or disregard of others

Locust

a migratory grasshopper often traveling in vast swarms and stripping the areas passed of all vegetation, cicada

Malignant

evil in nature, influence, or effect

Moat

a deep and wide trench around the rampart of a fortified place (as a castle) that is usually filled with water

Obeisance

a movement of the body made in token of respect or submission, acknowledgment of another's superiority or importance

Petulant

insolent or rude in speech or behavior

Ricksha

a small covered 2-wheeled vehicle usually for one passenger that is pulled by one man

Scythe

an implement used for mowing (as grass) and composed of a long curving blade fastened at an angle to a long handle

Tarry

to delay or be tardy in acting or doing, to linger in expectation

Unctuous

fatty, oily, smooth and greasy in texture or appearance