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Full Glossary
fatal loins fateful, unfortunate, offspring.
fay faith: used in oaths as here.
feasting presence presence chamber: the room in which a king or other person of rank or distinction formally receives guests.
feign to make a false show of; pretend.
fiddlestick the bow for a fiddle. Mercutio puns on the word as he draws his rapier.
field-bed bed upon the ground.
flirt-gills loose women.
foe supposed that is, because Juliet is a Capulet.
fond foolish.
fond tender and affectionate; loving; sometimes, affectionate in a foolish or overly indulgent way.
form of wax not a real man, no more durable than a wax figure.
forsooth yes indeed.
forsworn promised not to love.
gadding wandering about in an idle or restless way.
gleek a gesture of contempt or a rebuke.
glooming peace peace overshadowed with grief.
god of my idolatry the object of my excessive devotion.
gossamers filmy cobwebs floating in the air or spread on bushes or grass.
Ha! ha! Capulet is reflecting on the plans he is making; he is not laughing.
hap good luck or news.
harlotry willful behavior or hussy. Capulet regards his daughter with contempt.
the hay! term used to indicate that your opponent has been hit.
held him carelessly thought little of him, neglected his memory.
her vestal livery chaste appearance or virginal dress.
here's goodly gear a large clothes horse, refers to the appearance of the Nurse, who is also described in this scene as a sail. Romeo also continues Mercutio's series of bawdy puns in this scene, as gear refers to the reproductive organs.
he's a man of wax he's perfect, without fault, like a wax figure.
hilding a low, contemptible person.
holy palmers' kiss a palmer is a pilgrim who carried a palm leaf to signify the making of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. For Romeo, love is likened to a religious quest.
holy physic spiritual remedy.
hoodwink'd blindfolded.
humour fluid.
hunt's-up morning song used to wake huntsmen and, more traditionally, a newly married bride.
hurdle a kind of frame or sled on which prisoners in England were drawn through the streets to execution.
huswife a housewife.
I am no pilot . . . should adventure for such merchandise Romeo describes himself as a merchant venturer, one who would make risky voyages to be with Juliet.
I will bite my thumb at them, which is a disgrace to them if they bear it an Italian insult, a provocative, probably obscene gesture.
I'll cry a match I'll claim the victory.
I'll try . . . fingers from the saying that only bad cooks will not be able to lick their own fingers; that is, the servants will see if they are willing to test their own cooking.
an ill-beseeming semblance an unfitting or inappropriate outward appearance or aspect.
immortal punning on the moves as both famous and fatal.
in proof when actually experienced.
in this love in your concern for her material and earthly well-being.
intercession prayers and petitions.
jaunce trudge up and down.
jealous hood jealous wife. Capulet is humorously responding to his wife's remarks about his past.
jealous suspicious.
Jove king of the Roman gods.
keepers guards, as of prisoners.
kill your joys kill your children and turn your joy to sorrow.
laid wormwood to my dug rubbed wormwood on my nipple: a method of weaning children. The Nurse's role when Juliet was a young child was to act as her wet-nurse and breast-feed Juliet.
Lammas-tide a harvest festival formerly held in England on Aug. 1, when bread baked from the first crop of wheat was consecrated at Mass. The festival is used to symbolize fertility and plentitude, qualities which can be linked to Juliet as a young adolescent.
lantern an open or windowed structure on the roof of a building or in the upper part of a tower or the like, to admit light or air.
lay knife aboard lay claim to.
lesser cause that is, a woman, an amorous liaison.
let mischance be slave to patience submit to these unfortunate events with patience.
lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts Romeo is almost walking on air.
light'ning before death! Romeo refers to the belief that on the point of death the spirits were supposed to revive.
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