| Vocabulary for Macbeth Glossary |
|---|
A | C | E | G | I | K | M | O | Q | S | U | W | Y |
 safe toward - with a sure regard to |
| Saint Colme's inch - Inch is Scots for "island". Inchcolm. |
| sag - droop, sink |
| saucy - sharp |
| scarf up - blindfold |
| Scone - the ancient coronation place of the kings of Scotland |
| scorched - slashed |
| scruples - qualms |
| season - seasoning |
| seat - situation, site |
| seated - fixed firmly |
| second cock - the second crow of the rooster (3 AM) |
| security - confidence, consciousness of security, carelessness |
| seeling - sewing up the eyes of falcons to make them tame (blinding) |
| self-abuse - self-delusion |
| self-comparisons - measuring himself with the other |
| selfsame - very same |
| senna - The dried leaves of Cassia angustifolia or Cassia
acutifolia (which are pinnately compound leaves and showy, nearly regular, usually yellow flowers) used medicinally as a cathartic (for emotional release). |
| sennet - a trumpet call for formal entrances and exits |
| sensible - perceptible, tangible |
| sere - dry and whithered |
| set forth - shewed |
| settled - determined |
| sev'nnights - weeks |
| Sewer - one who tasted each dish to prove there was no poison in it |
| shadow - hide |
| shag-eare'd - having having hairy ears |
| shame - am ashamed |
| shard-borne - borne by scaly wing-cases |
| shipman's card - a card used by sailors showing the compass |
| shoal - a shallow part of a water body, or an elevated sand formation that
makes the watter shallow and becomes a danger (sandbar) |
| shough - a kind of shaggy dog |
| shut up - enclosed, enveloped |
| shut up - ended his day |
| sicken - be surfeited |
| sightless - invisible |
| Sinel - The former thane of Glamis, Macbeth's father |
| single - individual |
| Sirrah - a term used to address male servants, inferiors, and sometimes
children |
| skirr - scour |
| Sirrah - a term used to address male servants, inferiors, and sometimes
children |
| slab - viscid |
| sleave - sleave-silk, floss silk |
| sleek o'er - smooth |
| slipp'd - let slip |
| slivered in the moon's eclipse - cut during the creepy time when the moon
is in an eclipse |
| smack - have the taste, savor |
| so well - as well |
| sole - alone, mere |
| soliciting - inciting |
| solicits - enreats, moves by prayer |
| something - some distance |
| sometime - sometimes |
| sooth - truth |
| sorely charged - heavily burdened |
| sorriest - saddest |
| speculation - intelligence |
| spongy - imbibing like a sponge |
| spring - source |
| sprites - ghosts, spirits |
| spy - Note |
| stableness - constancy |
| staff - lance |
| stamp - stamped coin |
| stanchless - insatiable |
| stand - remain |
| stand - not upon, do not be particular about |
| starting - startled actions |
| state - chair of State |
| state of honor - noble rank, condition |
| stay - wait for |
| stir - stirring, moving |
| stealing out of - overcharging for |
| sticking place - This is a reference to the medieval crossbow. The
bowstring was pulled back by a crank, and the arrow placed in a notch (sticking place) until released. |
| storehouse - place of burial |
| strangely-visited - afflicted with strange diseases |
| stuff'd - crammed, full to bursting |
| suborned - bribed (subordinated) |
| substances - forms |
| sudden - violent |
| suffer - perish |
| suggestion - temptation, incitement |
| sundry - various |
| supp'd - had supper |
| surcease - cessation |
| surfeited grooms - servants who had too much wine |
| surveying - noticing, perceiving |
| sway by - am directed by |
| swears - swears allegiance |
| sweltered - sweated |
| syllable - sound |
| taking off - murder |
| taint - be infected |
| Tarquin - The son of a Roman king who raped a married woman named
Lucretia |
| Tartar - A member of any of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples of central
Asia who invaded western Asia and eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. Often used to mean a violent person. |
| teems - teems with |
| temperance - moderation, self-restraint |
| tending - tendrance, attendance |
| tend on - wait on |
| Thane - Scottish noble |
| the evil - scrofula was a disease of the lymph glands thought to be cured
by the king's touch. James I, like Edward the Confessor in the play, thought to cure victim's of the king's evil by touching them |
| therewithal - therewith |
| thirst - desire to drink |
| thralls - slaves, bondment |
| threat - threaten |
| till that - till |
| timely - betimes, early |
| titles - possessions |
| top - overtop, surpass |
| top-full - full to the top, brimful |
| touch - affection, feeling |
| touch'd - injured, hurt |
| towering - turning about |
| trace - follow |
| trains - artifices, devices |
| trammel up - up, entangle as in a net |
| transport - convey |
| transpose - change |
| traveling lamp - the sun |
| treasons capital - crimes of treason that merit capital punishment
(death) |
| treatise - story |
| treble scepters - An ornamental staff signifying royalty. This likely
shows King James' position as King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland in
1604 |
| trifled - made trifling, made to sink into insignificance |
| truest issue - rightful heir |
| trusted home - believed completely |
| Turk - a person from Turkey or a Moslem |
| two-fold balls - Orbs (sphere topped by a cross) signifying royalty. This
refers to King James and his kingship of both England and Scotland. |
| tyranny - usurper |
| unfix - make to stand on end |
| unrough - beardless |
| unsex me - (in context) take away my soft, feminine characterstics |
| unspeak - recall, withdraw |
| untimely ripped - born prematurely, by Caesarean section |
| untitled - having no title or claim |
| unto - to |
| upon - to |
| use - experience |
| using - cherishing, entertaining |
| vantage - opportunity |
| vault - place where wine is kept, or the earth with its vaulted (arched)
sky |
| verity - truthfulness |
| vizards - masks |
| vouch'd - assured, warranted |
| warder - guard |
| warranted - justified |
| wassail - drinking, partying |
| watching - waking |
| water-rugs - water dogs, a kind of poodle |
| weal - welfare, can also be used to mean skin raised by a blow (welt) |
| Weird sisters - Weird meant fate, and the Weird sisters were the witches |
| wherefore - why |
| whey-face - pallid (white) face, as from fear |
| while then - till then |
| whispers - whispers to |
| wholesome - healthy |
| witches' mummy - human flesh mummified |
| withal - with |
| without - outside |
| witness - testimony, evidence |
| worlds - heaven and earth |
| worm - small serpent |
| wrought - agitated |
| yawning peal - a peal which lulls to sleep |
| yesty - foamy (from the yeast used to make beer) |
| yew - a tree thought to be poisonous |
| yours - your relatives |
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© Margaret Stewart-Zimmerman
May 22, 1998 - 2008