Glossary (words starting with F)
fabulous
fabled, mythical, legendary (classical or pagan)
fabulous
absurd
face down
impudently maintained (OED face v, 3a); lied to my teeth
face down
confront
faces about
turn around, face in the opposite direction
facks
A common exclamation that may be derived from "by my faith". Ben Jonson uses the word frequently in his plays to express surprise.
fact
action, deed (as opposed to words) (OED n. 1a); crime (OED n. 1c)
faction
(in) league (with)
factious
seditious
factor
one who buys and sells for another person; a mercantile agent; a commission merchant (OED n. 4)
facundity
eloquence
fagaries
a departure or straying from the ordered, regular, or usual course of conduct, decorum, or propriety; a frolic or prank, esp. one of a freakish nature (OED vagary 3a); a capricious, fantastic, or eccentric action or piece of conduct (OED vagary n, 4a); the spelling is a variant
fagary
a whim or eccentricity (also fegary, figary)
fail
disappoint, fall short of expectation
failing
lacking, unavailable
fain
glad under the circumstances (OED a. and adv. A 2)
fain
obliged; ‘glad under the circumstances; glad or content to take a certain course in default of opportunity for anything better, or as the lesser of two evils’ (OED adj. 2)
fain
gladly, willingly, eagerly
fain
(adj) willing, pleased
faintly
timidly (OED adv. 2)
faintness
feebleness, lack of support
fair
virtuous; legitimate
fair
honourable, virtuous (OED adj. 9); eqitable (OED adj. 10a); gentle, peaceable (OED adj. 15)
fair
desirable; considerable; unobstructed
fair
just (but with a punning reference in this instance to the delicacy and beauty of the judge involved, that is: Victoria)
fair
successful (OED adj. 14a); unobstructed (OED adj. 16); open to view (OED adj. 17)
fair
free from fraud (OED adj. 10a): not loaded or otherwise tampered with
fair
flattering (OED adj. 5a); kindly (OED adj. 15)
fair
beautiful, delightful; considerable (used to speak of an estate or fortune); clean, unsoiled (OED adj. 8a); free from moral stain (OED adj. 9); unobstructed, open (OED adj. 16)
fair
desireable
fair
honourable
fair
reputable (but referring possibly to the men as white-haired)
fair
beautiful, agreeable, delightful
fair
(adv.) nobly (OED adv. 1); courteously (OED adv. 2a); honestly (OED adv. 4); becomingly (OED adv. 5)
fairly
legitimately (OED adv. 4b); clearly, plainly (OED adv. 6: earliest citation is 1661); actually (OED adv. 7)
fairly
neatly; clearly
fairy
spirit or sprite
faith
in faith; truly
faith
trust (that is, in Victoria's remaining true to her pact with Borgio)
faith
confidence, trust (OED n. 1a); (religious) belief (OED n. 3); assurance, promise (OED n. 8); fidelity, loyalty (OED n. 10)
fall
ruin
fall
take the topic of discussion; descend in status
fall
come by chance into; drop into, engage upon, become the subject of (OED v. 35, 63a and 63d)
fall
fall over
fall
end, drop (a legal action)
fall
(when used in conjunction with "to" or "upon") to begin upon, take up, set about (OED v. 70d)
fall
to come to be, come about that, occur (but with additional sense of a decline in that coming to be) (OED v. 40d)
fall back
(in military terms) to retreat; that is, fall back to one's previous position
fall off
retreat (OED, fall v, 92b)
fall to
begin; start consuming (food, wine, or more metaphorically, women; OED v. 67e)
fall to
set to work, make a start
fall to
start upon; attach (oneself) to (OED v. 100c and 67a)
fall to
proceed to (OED v. 67d)
fall within
come within the influence, operation or scope of (OED fall v, 72)
fallacious
(of an argument) containing a fallacy
falling
becoming (OED v. 40); also used in The New Academy, Act 1: ‘He’s falling mad. / Stark staring mad’ [NA 1.1.speech137]; compare also John Harington’s comment in his translation of Orlando Furioso (London, 1591): ‘But in the manner of [Orlando's] falling mad, my author hath (in mine opinion) showed himself his craft’s master’ (185)
falling out
disputation, disagreement
falls
fallings from grace and so from popularity
false
sexually disloyal, treacherous
false
disloyal, treacherous
false-fire
deceptive (as night signal)
falsehood
disloyalty, faithlessness
fame
reputation
famed
rumoured, alleged, that is, not substantiated (OED adj. 1)
familiar
domestic, homely (OED adj. 1a); well-known (OED adj. 6); ordinary, in every-day use (OED adj. 6b); homely, plain, easy to understand (OED adj. 6c); affable, friendly (OED adj. 7)
familiar
friendly, over-intimate
familiar
habitual (OED adj. 6b), here with some connotation of the word's sense as a noun designating a witch's on-call evil spirit (OED n. 3)
familiar
private; unduly intimate
family
household
Family at Amsterdam
Netherlandish religious sect, in England popularly known as the `Family of Love' and mocked for wife-swapping
fancies
fantasies
fancies
fantasies, caprices, toys
fancy
‘The ornamental tags, etc., appended to the ribbons by which the hose were secured to the doublet’ (OED A. 5c); MC cited as first reference. Also in the context of MC Prologue: inventions, fripperies.
fancy
invention
fancy
imagination, creative insight
fancy
imagination
fancy
preference (compare the modern idiom 'as the fancy takes you')
fancy
caprice, whim (OED n and a, 7a)
fancy
ornamental fashion item (see OED C, 1a)
fancy
fantasy, hallucination (OED n and a, 3)
fantastic
imaginary
fantastic
here used in the sense of "prone to fantasy"
fantastic
full of fantasy, mad
fantastic
fanciful, odd, eccentric
far-fetched
absurd, fantastic
fardel
parcel, pack (OED n1. 1)
fare
food (OED n1. 8); Eulalia possibly also means condition (OED n1. 7)
fare
food (OED n1. 8)
fare
(n) ‘diet, victualls, meat and drinke’
fare
(v) eat and drink
fare you well
farewell, goodbye
farthing
English coin worth a quarter of a penny
farthing-gleek
card game played by three people, presumably with farthings (quarter pennies) or other small coins placed as bets (see OED farthing, n. 5b; gleek, n.1 1)
fashion
moulded/transformed her
fashion
manage, contrive
fashion
mould, design, create
fashion
counterfeit (OED v. 4b)
fashion
(v) mould (OED v. 1); transform (OED v. 4)
fashion-sick
made sick by fashion; compare Thomas Bancroft, ‘To London in Time of Pestilence’, in Two Books of Epigrams and Epitaphs (London, 1639):
the roaring boys I see
Put women down with man-less luxury,
Still to be fashion-sick, and drink, and swear,
And rage, as if they Stygian monsters were (sig. G1v)
fashioning out
imagining, shaping (within a narrative or story)
fashions
manners and customs (OED n. 8b)
fast
faster: more secure
fast
fast asleep
fast
locked
fast
secure
Fast or loose
cheating game played with a stick and a belt or string, overlapped so that a player would bet he could hold the pile fast by placing a stick througth its intricate folds, but the operator could undo it with one tug
fasten
secured (of a contract; here, of love)
fasten
establish on, settle on
fasten upon
seize on
faster
more secure
fat
well-fed, wealthy, well-stocked
fat
(a) plump or obese; (b) of a person: affluent, wealthy; (c) displaying the characteristics of a fat animal; slow-witted, indolent, self-complacent (OED 2; 10; 11)
fatal
doomed (OED 2); producing destruction (OED 6)
father-in-law
step-father
father-’law
a contraction of father-in-law
fathom
literally, a measurement that is the equivalent of the distance between the fingertips of each hand when the arms are outstretched to the full (roughly six-foot); figuratively, a great distance
fathom-deep
literally a measurement that is the equivalent of the distance between the fingertips of each hand when the arms are outstretched to the full (roughly six-foot); figuratively, especially when as here coupled with the word "deep", a great distance is implied
faugh
an exclamation of disgust
faults
(moral) imperfections (OED fault n, 3a); transgressions (OED fault n, 5)
faults
moral definciencies (OED fault n, 3a); transgressions, offences (OED fault n, 5); defects in workmanship (OED fault n, 3b)
favour
facial appearance
favour
token given as a mark of favour
favour
sexual favour (also with implication of 'goodwill gesture, kind regard')
favour
pardon, leave
favour
pardon; goodwill
favour
goodwill, kindness; partiality, approval, encouragement
favourite
persons who stand unduly high in the favour of a prince (OED favourite n, 2)
favourite
one chosen as an intimate of a superior (OED n. 2)
favourite
one who stands unduly high in the favour of a prince (OED n. 2)
fear
anxiety (for someone’s safety) (OED n1. 4); alarm, dread
fear of the lash
fear of being whipped, a punishment for vagabonds and rogues
fearful
causing fear
feat
action; a surprising trick or sleight of hand (OED n. 3, cites Joseph Hall, A Recollection of Such Treatises as Have Been Heretofore Severally Published, and are Now Revised, Corrected, Augmented [London, 1615]: ‘he had rather send for his magicians to work feats’ [989]
feat
stunt, tour de force, trick
feat
adroit
featly
fitly, aptly, elegantly (OED adv. and a.)
feats
deeds, actions (i.e. sexual acts)
feature
good proportions of the body or face; comeliness; beauty
fee
reward, gratuity (OED fee n2, 10)
fee-simple
an estate of land belonging to the owner and his heirs for ever, that is in absolute possession (OED)
fee-tail
an estate of inheritance entailed or limited to a particular class of heirs (OED)
feeling
physical sensation (OED vbl n, 2b)
feelingly
with emotion, but also sensitively.
Fegs
exclamation of astonishment
feign
invent, fake
feigned
pretended, apparent
feigned
pretended, simulated, dissembled
feigned
invented
felicity
delight or pleasure
felicity
happiness
fell
cruel, dreadful
fell
dreadful, terrible; cruel, savage
fell
began (but also with the sense of falling from the state of grace which accrues around a woman's virginity)
fellow
customary title of address or reference to a servant or other person of humble station (obsolete)
fellows
comrades (OED 2a); men; often used to refer to people of low status (OED 10c)
feloniously
in a felonious or criminal manner
feminine
(n) woman
fencer
someone who fences in public shows: a professional fighter
feoffees
trustees invested with a freehold estate in land (OED 2); a woman, for example, could retain control of her property, instead of being forced to release it to her husband, if she had conveyed it in trust to a friend or relative
ferreter
one who searches for and hunts rabbits etc. with a ferret (OED citing this reference); however, OED also records the meaning of one who searches minutely; a rummager (this latter meaning might well carry sexual innuendo)
ferula
cane, rod, an instrument of punishment (OED 2)
fescue
a straw, rush, twig; a small piece of straw (OED)
festival month
celebratory lying-in period, usually four weeks, following birth, in which the mother recuperates and receives visitors
fetch
deliver him, rescue him
fetch
'make an end of' the bargain (by swapping money for goods; see OED, fetch v. 16b); i.e. collect it (MCWM)
fetch
sought out (in the sense of "researched"); derived
fetch
draw forth (OED fetch v. 17)
fetch
go in quest of (OED v. 1)
fetch
recoup everything (OED v. II 12a)
fetch
fetch about
to turn something to face a different way, to change how something is perceived
fetch breath
get one’s breath back
fetch out
find the origin of
fetched off
rescued (OED, fetch v, 16)
fetches
sighs
fetching
irresistibly attracting
fetters
chains or shackles for the feet of a human being or animal (OED fetter n, 1); restraints (OED fetter n, 2)
fibulating
twiddling one’s buttons (derived from the latin, fibula: a clasp, fastening or broach)
fictions
myths, legends, fables
fiddlestick
something insignificant; tool (used to play upon something else to produce an outcome)
fiddlestick
something insignificant: ‘fiddlestick’ is often substituted for another word when a remark is repeated scornfully (OED n. 2)
fidelity
loyalty
fie
exclamation of disgust or reproach
field
(n) battlefield
figgle
fidget (only citation included in OED is from The Love-Sick Court, 5.2)
fightingly
pugnaciously (OED's first recorded usage)
figure
visual image, likeness or representation
figure
figure of speech, piece of rhetoric
figure
to give figure to; to form; to embody (OED v. 1a)
figure-flinger
horoscope-deviser
filch
steal
fillip
tap smartly with the nail-joint of one's finger (OED v. 2)
filliped
struck smartly (OED 4b)
find
perceive (OED v. 5a)
find
regard (OED v. 6a)
find
see through, perceive the truth about
find
discover, understand
find
obtain, procure
find out
discover by enquiry; perhaps also ‘provide’, although the first date cited by the OED is 1715 (OED, find, v. 20b; 20d).
fine
clever, cunning
fine
cunning, artful (OED adj. 11); excellent (used ironically) (OED adj. 12c); smartly dressed (OED adj. 16) refined, fastidious (OED adj. 17)
fine
excellent, handsome
fine
skilful, accomplished; excellent
finely
perfectly, completely
finger
to touch or handle (money) with unworthy motives (OED finger v, 2b cites Richard Mulcaster, Positions vvherin those primitiue circumstances be examined, which are necessarie for the training vp of children, either for skill in their booke, or health in their bodie [1581]: 'The fellow said much, and that state felt more, when they [the Romans] fell to fingering' [p. 159].)
finger-work
work executed with the fingers
fingers
measurements equal to the breadth of a finger, or three quarters of an inch (OED n. 5)
fingle-fangle
a trifle; something whimsical or fantastic (OED)
finical
over-particular or affectedly fastidious
fireworks
(metaphorical) explosive behaviour
firk
beat, lash, trounce (OED firk v, 4), but with an audible innuendo on `fuck'
firk
drive, urge on
firking
pulling or hitching up
firkins
small casks, the capacity of which was half that of a kilderkin
firm
absolutely, securely
firm
steadfast, determined (OED adj. 6a)
firmament
the heavens or sky
fist
a foul smell, stink (OED n2. 1)
fit
suitable, proper
fit
properly qualified, entitled
fit
prepare
fit
suitable
fit
(v) supply, furnish, or provide
fit
match, meet (with the additional sense of doing so "fittingly", "aptly")
fit
supply, equip (OED v1. 11b) make ready, prepare (OED v1. 6a)
fit
fitting, apt
fit
match (in the sense of "be equal with", "get even with", "parry")
fit
punish appropriately
fit
mood (OED dates this usage from 1680, but it seems to be the meaning here)
fit
humour, impulse (OED dates this usage from 1680, but it seems to be the meaning here)
fit
sudden and transitory state of feeling (OED fit n2, 4a); paroxysm of lunacy (OED fit n2, 3a)
fit
outbursts; paroxysms of lunacy (OED fit n2, 3)
fit
(n) mood, capricious humour; outburst
fit
(a) suitable, convenient, well-fitting (like a garment)
fit
(a) appropriate; necessary
fit
(a) competent
fit
(v) punish accordingly (OED v1. 12)
fit habit
suitable gown or outfit
Fitchow
fitchew = a polecat.
fitly
appropriately, fittingly
Fitted
answered
Fitted
supplied, furnished
Fitted
treated, punished
Fitted
made ready, given your instructions
Fitted
prepared
fitter
better suited, more appropriately used
fitters
tatters
fitting
befitting
fixed
deprived of volatility or fluidity (OED fix v, 4a); an alchemical meaning
fizzlings
controlled, sputtering or nearly silent farting
flagon
a large bottle
flagon-bracelets
chain-bracelets to which a smelling-bottle could be attached (OED flagon, 4)
flails
instruments for threshing corn by hand, consisting of a wooden staff or handle, at the end of which a stouter and shorter pole or club is so hung as to swing freely (OED flail n, 1)
flam
trick, deceive, or mock (still current in ‘flim-flam’)
flame
vitality; passion
flamster
deceiver; trickster (not in OED, but related to 'flam' n1 and v)
flan
tart, usually fruit
flanker
either a fortification protecting the flank; a cannon placed to do so; or a soldier stationed on the flank
flapjacks
pancakes, sometimes made with sliced apples on top or folded in (apple-jacks)
flash
a display or show, often superficially brilliant and often brief (see OED flash n, 2 3, 4a, 4b, and 5)
flash
outburst of anger
flat
horizontal (because sexual) but also harmless because no erection was involved (being between two women)
flat
downright
flat
(n) plainness, absoluteness
flat-cap
a citizen, that is, one who wore the round cap with a low, flat crown, that was much worn in the 16-17th centuries by London citizens (OED 2)
fledge
OED fledge a 1. Of young birds (rarely of the wings): Fit to fly; having the feathers fully developed, fledged. 2. Furnished for flight. Const. with. Also fig.
fleeting
departing, passing away
flesh
initiate in bloodshed (OED v. 2a)
flesh-flies
(literally) flies which deposit their eggs (or larvæ) in dead flesh, blow-flies; (figuratively of persons) lewd reprobates, whore-mongers, lechers
flight
pursuit of game (OED n1. 1c)
flim-flams
idle talk; humbug (OED n. 1 & 2)
flirt out
to propel or throw with a jerk or sudden movement; often, to propel by a blow from the finger-nail released from the thumb; used in conjunction with away, off, out (OED flirt v, 1 trans[itive])
flockbed
a bed bearing a mattress stuffed with coarse woollen or cotton tufts
Florentines
pie or tart; esp. meat baked in a dish with a cover of paste (OED 3)
flourish
a burst of horns or trumpets, a fanfare
flourish
(v) adorn or decorate
flout
mock, jeer, insult; express contempt for (someone)
flow
circulate; but also abound (as in the biblical phrase, 'flows with milk and honey' OED v. 14)
flower-de-luce
fleur-de-lis: heraldic lily usually used on the French royal arms; also the name of four known taverns in London (see [NOTE n158])
flush
plentifully supplied, especially with money (OED a1, 3a)
fly
run, hasten
fly
flee, escape
fly
move quickly, travel
fly
run, hasten; run away
fly
hasten away; be quick and go
fly
(v) run away from
fly
flee, break away
fly
a type of something insignificant (OED n. 1d)
fly not off
out of verbal control, ranting and raving
fly not off
do not grow angry, lose control
fly to
run to (be attracted to someone)
fly-blows
the eggs deposited by a fly in the flesh of an animal, or the maggots proceeding therefrom (OED 1)
fly-flap
headwear or hood
fly-flap
fly-swat
flying
rising into the air (as if with joy)
flying
running away, fleeing
fob
small pocket made in the waistband of breeches and used for carrying a watch, money or other valuables (OED n2. 1 gives this as the earliest example listed for the sense)
foh
exclamation of disgust (also spelt 'faugh')
foil
defeat (a metaphor from fencing)
foils
light fencing swords, épées
foist
a cheat or a rogue (OED n4)
Foist
a cheat, a rogue; a pickpocket (OED foist n4, 1)
foisting
farting (often used in reference to dogs)
fond
foolish
fondling
a foolish, childish, or innocent person
fondness
folly; want of sense or judgement
fool
used as a term of endearment or pity (OED fool n1, 1c)
fool
child, a silly (often used as a term of endearment, OED n. 1c)
fool
play the fool with; tease
fool's paradise
‘A state of illusory happiness or good fortune; enjoyment based on false hopes or anticipations’ (OED 1); here more specifically, London.
fool-clogged
encumbered with an idiot-husband
fooled
played; behaved like a fool
fooling
acting the fool, fooling around
fooling
acting like a fool
foot it
dance
foot-post
a letter carrier or messenger who travels on foot
footcloth
a large richly-ornamented cloth laid over the back of a horse and hanging down to the ground on each side; it was considered as a mark of dignity and state (OED 1)
footing
dancing (OED n. 2) and by extension other physical interaction; the stable positioning of the feet (OED n. 4a); Williams (3: 1236) notes that in The Family of Love (King’s Revels, c. 1607; published London, 1608), Master Purge, fearing his wife’s adultery, says, ‘I scent your footing, wife’ (sig. F1r); see also Williams 1: 525-6 on the associations between the word ‘foot’ and sexual intercourse
footing
choreography, dance steps
footing
secure foothold
footman
someone who walks on foot
footman
attendant or foot-servant, especially a servant who runs before his master’s carriage (OED 3)
footpost
messenger, or early version of a postman, though not publicly funded
fopperies
foolish actions, follies
for
for fear of
for
in support of, on the side of
for
on account of
for
pretending to be, passing herself off
for all
notwithstanding (OED all a, 9c); despite
for expedition
to be quick, to save time
for me
as far as I am concerned
for my credit
to my credit; to enhance my reputation as a host
for my part
for my share in the business: i.e. in my opinion
for my turn
(sexually) available to me (OED n. 30b)
for pity
an exclamation expressing remonstrance (compare ‘for pity’s sake’) (OED pity n, 2c)
forbear
put up with, tolerate (Obs.)
forbear
stop (this behaviour), desist
forbear
put up with (OED forbear v, 2)
forbear
spare; leave (me) alone
forbear
cease, refrain (from)
forbear
avoid (me); get out of my sight
forbear
bear with
forbear
refrain from taking; OED also gives ‘to abstain from enforcing the payment of (money) after it has become due’ (v, 9b)
forbear
leave (him) alone
forbear
spare (OED v. 8)
forbear
be patient (OED 8c)
forbear
control (OED v. 3)
forbear
avoid, keep away from (OED v. 4c)
forbear
avoid, shun
forbear
control myself, have patience
forbear
refrain from enforcing, pressing, or demanding (OED v. 9)
forborne
tolerated, put up with (OED forbear v, 2)
forborne
tolerated; not enforced, pressed, insisted on, or exacted, especially in terms of paying back (OED forbear v, 9)
force
impose (with effort)
force
strength, vigour
forced
not spontaneous (OED forced, ppl. a, 2a)
forcible
violent (in its consequences), destructive
fore
before
forecast
prearranged
forecast
foresight, prudence (OED n. 1a)
foredoom
forecast, prophesy
foreknowledge
knowledge in advance
forerunner
harbinger sent before to prepare the way and herald the approach of great men (OED 1a)
foresaid
aforesaid
foreslow
to make slow, delay, hinder, impede, obstruct; to slacken (OED foreslow v, 2)
forespent
spent previously
foretold you
told you before (not a reference to prophecy)
forfeit
give up
forfeit
violate
forfeit
(v) lose
forfeit
(a) forfeit to law, lost by misconduct
forfeit
(n) loss, penalty
forfeited
lost or confiscated
forfeited
(v) lost
forfeiture
loss or liability to deprivation (of an estate, goods, office, etc.) in consequence of a crime, offence, or breach of engagement (from OED 2). Project beagles smell out, and try to seize, other people's losses.
forge
fabricate, invent
forgo
give up, relinquish, deny oneself
forgo your wit
abandon common sense, play the fool
forked
branching; horned (with reference to cuckoldry)
forlorn
lost, abandoned; morally lost, depraved
form
a long seat without a back, a bench (OED n. II 17)
Formality
propriety; conformity to established rule (OED 6)
former
pre-existing
forsake
give up, renounce
forsook
abandoned, quitted; avoided, shunned
forsooth
certainly
forsooth
truly
forsworn
perjured
forth
out
forth
out (of the house); OED adv., prep., and n. 4b also suggests this means 'late' (in the evening)
fortune
condition or standing in life (OED n. 5); mishap, disaster (OED n. 2b)
forward
eager
forward
eager; precocious; premature
forward
eager; precocious
forward
eager; bold, immodest
forward
bold, presumptuous, immodest (OED 8)
forwardness
Over-readiness, presumptuous self-confidence; hence, lack of becoming modesty, boldness (OED `forwardness' 4)
forwards
forward: ready, eager (OED forward a, 6a)
for’t
for it
fough
an exclamation of abhorrence or disgust (OED)
found
suspected, thought
found
discovered, hit upon (a weakness)
found out
discovered, discerned
fourscore
eighty (years old)
foutre
to care not a fouter (jot) for
fox
either (1) trick (OED v. 1); or (2) force by using a fox (a kind of sword) (OED v. 3)
frame
compose, express (OED v. 8)
frame
structure
frame
adapt, conform (OED v. 6a)
frame
(v) to set about, put one's mind to (something)
frame
(n) loom (OED n. 13b)
frame
(a) construction; fashion
framed
composed, made
framed
prepared; composed; uttered; imagined (it does not yet mean to ‘frame’ someone by devising a plot against them)
frank
free from obligation, unconditional (OED a2, 1d); liberal, generous (OED a2, 2)
frantic
lunatic (OED adj. 1); delirious (OED adj. 3)
frantic
violently or ragingly mad (OED adj. 1)
fraternity
body of men of the same class, occupation, pursuits, etc. (OED 6)
fraternity
brotherhood
fraught
the money paid for the hire of a boat for the transportation of cargo
free
There is complex punning involved in this usage. Byplay variously means "outspoken", that is free in one's opinions, and (in conjunction with the term, "pointmakers") "a member of their guild" (one, that is, who shares in their freedoms). The latter usage survives in the term, "freemason".
free
unrestricted, unrestrained
free
frank, open; noble, generous
free
generous; unrestricted, unrestrained
free
unrestricted (as opposed in the context to "reserved"); but also with the sense of private
free
unrestricted; immoderate; abundant; possibly with an ironic pun on ‘free of charge’
free
There is complex punning involved in this usage. Byplay variously means "outspoken" (free in one's opinions) and, in conjunction with Pointmakers, "a member of their guild" [one who shares in their freedoms]. The latter usage survives in the term, "freemason".
free
liberal, generous, but also with overtones of being too free and easy, morally speaking
free-cost
free, gratuitous (OED adj. B): Oliver suggests that Bumpsey only gets drunk when he is getting his alcohol for free
freedom
the state of being able to act without hindrance or restraint; liberty of act (also with sense of "magnanimity", "generosity") (OED n. 4a and 2)
freedom
the right of participating in the privileges attached to membership of a guild etc. also the right to practise a trade (OED n. II 14a)
freely
openly
freely
willingly, unreservedly (OED adv. 1a)
freeman
someone who is independent, not in service
freeman
a person who possesses the freedom of a city, borough, company, guild, etc.
(OED n. 2)
freeness
readiness; generosity, liberality (OED n. 2)
French fleas
syphilis, then called the French pox (the lesions of the sexually-transmitted disease look like flea-bites)
Frenchified
made French: spoken in a French style, or with a French accent
frendibleness
friendliness (dialect?)
frenzy
mental derangement, delirium (OED n. 1)
frenzy
distraction, madness
freshman
a student during their first year, especially the first term, at a University (OED 2a)
fribbles
performs impromptu to his own invention
fribbles
falters, stammers or muddles through
fribbling
foolish, stumbling
friend
mere acquaintance
friend
acquaintance; family member; sympathiser, supporter (used ironically)
friend
lover or paramour (OED n.4)
friends
in its modern sense, companions
friends
a term used loosely to mean family and household (Arthur uses the word ‘friends’ in its modern sense a few lines later, referring to his companions Shakestone and Bantam)
friends
close companions, or relatives
frighted
frightened, scared away
frighted
afraid
frippery
finery, fashionable clothing
frisking
capering, dancing
frisko
a frisky, lively person, as a term of intimacy and endearment (OED cites this example alone)
frolic
make merry, gambol (with sexual innuendo)
frolic
(a) merry, excited
froligozone
jolly, frolicsome (obsolete, from Dutch)
from
against, contrary to
from
away from
from
by; out of
from the point
irrelevant
front
forehead; countenance
front
face; countenance
froward
perverse, difficult to deal with, ill-tempered
frowardness
ill temper
fruitful
copious (OED adj. 3); beneficial (OED adj. 5)
fruition
enjoyment, possession
frumping
mocking, scoffing (OED)
fry
crowd of young or insignificant people (OED fry n1, 4b)
fry
children
fucus
paint or cosmetic for beautifying the skin; a wash or colouring for the face (OED 1)
full
fully, completely
full
abundant, perfect
full
period, point or state of greatest fullness; period or state of complete illumination of the moon's disc (OED n3. B 4a and 4c)
full
possessed of all qualities belonging to the designation -- in this case, `man' (OED adj. 7b)
full
completely, entirely, fully, quite (OED adv. 2)
full
abundant, satisfying (OED adj. 6a)
fullness
completeness, satisfaction, abundance
fulsome
abundant, plentiful, copious (but tending towards the overgrown, rank)
fume
odour or odorous exhalation, either fragrant or offensive, emitted from a substance, flower (OED n. 2) (it can include the sense of incense, or having a cleansing or therapeutic effect)
fumigated
perfumed
Fumously
furiously, angrily (OED 5)
function
employment, profession, calling, trade (OED n. 4a)
function
status, position in a lord's household
Furies
nightmarish goddesses of the underworld
furious
excessive (OED 3, where the earliest example given for this sense is 1668)
furnish
provide
furnish
supply what is necessary (OED v. 5a)
furnished
supplied with
further
help, support, promote, encourage
furtherer
one who helps, promotes, or supports a person or action