The Merry Wives of Windsor: Act 1

by William Shakespeare
In this comedy, two women scorn the romantic overtures of Sir John Falstaff (friend of Prince Hal in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2).

Here are links to our lists for the play: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4, Act 5
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. mar
    cause to become imperfect
    SIR HUGH: It is marring indeed, if he quarter it.
    SHALLOW: Not a whit.
  2. whit
    a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
    SIR HUGH: It is marring indeed, if he quarter it.
    SHALLOW: Not a whit.
  3. conjecture
    a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating
    If he has a quarter of your coat, there is but three skirts for yourself, in my simple conjectures.
  4. disparagement
    the act of speaking contemptuously of
    If Sir John Falstaff have committed disparagements unto you, I am of the Church, and will be glad to do my benevolence to make atonements and compromises between you.
  5. atonement
    the act of making amends for sin or wrongdoing
    If Sir John Falstaff have committed disparagements unto you, I am of the Church, and will be glad to do my benevolence to make atonements and compromises between you.
  6. beseech
    ask for or request earnestly
    The knight Sir John is there, and I beseech you be ruled by your well-willers.
  7. cur
    an inferior dog or one of mixed breed
    SHALLOW: That he will not. ’Tis your fault, ’tis your fault. ’Tis a good dog.
    PAGE: A cur, sir.
  8. redress
    make reparations or amends for
    SHALLOW: If it be confessed, it is not redressed. Is not that so, Master Page? He hath wronged me, indeed he hath; at a word, he hath.
  9. discreet
    marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint
    I will make a prief of it in my notebook, and we will afterwards ’ork upon the cause with as great discreetly as we can.
  10. affectation
    a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display
    What phrase is this, “He hears with ear”? Why, it is affectations.
  11. knave
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
    If I be drunk, I’ll be drunk with those that have the fear of God, and not with drunken knaves.
  12. troth
    a solemn pledge of fidelity
    Mistress Ford, by my troth, you are very well met.
  13. dowry
    money brought by a woman to her husband at marriage
    Will you, upon good dowry, marry her?
  14. dissolute
    unrestrained by convention or morality
    That I am freely dissolved, and dissolutely.
  15. resolutely
    showing firm determination or purpose
    The ’ort is, according to our meaning, “resolutely.”
  16. solicit
    make a petition for something desired
    Give her this letter [handing him a paper], for it is a ’oman that altogether’s acquaintance with Mistress Anne Page; and the letter is to desire and require her to solicit your master’s desires to Mistress Anne Page.
  17. jerkin
    an old-fashioned sleeveless and collarless jacket
    An old cloak makes a new jerkin, a withered servingman a fresh tapster.
  18. filch
    make off with belongings of others
    His thefts were too open. His filching was like an unskillful singer; he kept not time.
  19. convey
    take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
    “Convey,” the wise it call. “Steal”? Foh, a fico for the phrase!
  20. ensue
    take place or happen afterward or as a result
    Why, then, let kibes ensue.
  21. quip
    witty remark
    PISTOL: I ken the wight. He is of substance good.
    FALSTAFF: My honest lads, I will tell you what I am about.
    PISTOL: Two yards and more.
    FALSTAFF: No quips now, Pistol.
  22. discourse
    carry on a conversation
    She discourses; she carves; she gives the leer of invitation.
  23. leer
    a suggestive or sneering look or grin
    She discourses; she carves; she gives the leer of invitation.
  24. construe
    make sense of; assign a meaning to
    I can construe the action of her familiar style; and the hardest voice of her behavior, to be Englished rightly, is “I am Sir John Falstaff’s.”
  25. judicious
    marked by the exercise of common sense in practical matters
    I have writ me here a letter to her; and here another to Page’s wife, who even now gave me good eyes too, examined my parts with most judicious oeillades.
  26. gild
    decorate with, or as if with, gold leaf or liquid gold
    Sometimes the beam of her view gilded my foot, sometimes my portly belly.
  27. exchequer
    the funds of a government or institution or individual
    I will be cheaters to them both, and they shall be exchequers to me; they shall be my East and West Indies, and I will trade to them both.
  28. plod
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    Rogues, hence, avaunt, vanish like hailstones, go,
    Trudge, plod away i’ th’ hoof, seek shelter, pack!
  29. beguile
    influence by slyness
    For gourd and fullam holds,
    And high and low beguiles the rich and poor.
  30. defile
    make dirty or spotty
    And I to Page shall eke unfold
    How Falstaff, varlet vile,
    His dove will prove, his gold will hold,
    And his soft couch defile.
  31. incense
    make furious
    I will incense Ford to deal with poison.
  32. casement
    a window framework that is hinged on one side
    I pray thee, go to the casement and see if you can see my master, Master Doctor Caius, coming.
  33. warren
    a colony of rabbits
    He hath fought with a warrener.
  34. gait
    a person's manner of walking
    Does he not hold up his head, as it were, and strut in his gait?
  35. rapier
    a straight sword with a narrow blade and two edges
    Come, take-a your rapier, and come after my heel to the court.
  36. tarry
    stay longer than you should
    By my trot, I tarry too long.
  37. phlegmatic
    showing little emotion
    I beseech you, be not so phlegmatic.
  38. scurvy
    of the most contemptible kind
    I will cut his troat in de park, and I will teach a scurvy jackanape priest to meddle or make.
  39. prate
    speak about unimportant matters rapidly and incessantly
    We must give folks leave to prate.
  40. musing
    a calm, lengthy, intent consideration
    But, indeed, she is given too much to allicholy and musing.
Created on Tue Jun 15 13:05:27 EDT 2021 (updated Thu Jun 24 16:55:27 EDT 2021)

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