Glossary (words starting with W)
w'ye
with you
waft
to convey safely by water (OED v. 2)
waft
transport (often with sense of instantaneously as if by magic); propel or convey safely; also to move "by producing a current of air" (that is, by clapping, though OED does not list a usage with this meaning before 1839)
wag
mischievous boy; joker
wag
mischievous boy; fellow; joker
wag-tricks
the tricks of a mischievous or playful young man
wager
bet
waggery
sexual games and fumblings
waggery
both: jest, jocularity (OED 1); and (an innuendo suggested by the onstage situation) sexual play
waggery
plot, practical joke
waggish
mischievous
waggishly
in a waggish (mischievous or wanton) manner
wagships
mischievous lads (in opposition to 'worships', the more fitting address to old men)
wagtail
'A contemptuous term for a profligate or inconstant woman' (OED, n. 3b).
wait
tend (upon someone); accompany as a servant
wait
await
wait on
watch for
wait on
to attend as a servant (but also perhaps with overtones of the older sense of the word as meaning to 'watch over carefully', though OED lists this usage as obsolete after c.1500)
wait upon
attend, as a servant, to the personal requirements of; minister to the comfort of (OED wait v1, 14j)
waiters
attendants
waive
cast aside, reject, disregard
waive
shun; escape (OED v1. 6a)
waive
abandon
waived
cast aside, rejected, disregarded
wake
watching (esp. by night) of relatives and friends beside the body of a dead person from death to burial, or during a part of that time; the drinking, feasting, and other observances incidental to this custom (OED 3) (the objective is to keep evil spirits away, with or without a dead body)
walk
path, way
walking morts
older doxies who claim to be widows by misfortune, left penniless with many children (the story told to facilitate begging)
want
lack
want
(n) need, poverty
wanted
lacked
wanting
needful, necessary to
wanting
lacking, needing
wanton
carefree; lascivious; irresponsible
wanton
impetuous; reckless; sportive; unrestrained; skittish; amorous
wanton
undisciplined, rebellious (OED a. and n. 1a)
wanton
degenerate
wanton
undisciplined, ill-governed
wantonness
lasciviousness
wants
deficiencies; needs; suffering
wants
falls short (OED want, 1b)
wants
(n) penury; destitution (OED, want, n2. 3a)
wants
is without, lacks, is lacking (something)
wants
needs (OED v. 4a)
wants
plural noun - needs
ward
imprisonment (OED v. 3); prison (OED v. 17a), department or section within a prison (OED v. 17b)
ward
watch or guard
wardrobe
room in which apparel was kept (OED 1a); office of the royal household in charge of regal apparel (OED 2); stock of clothes owned by an individual (OED 3a)
ware
goods; specifically, women, imagined as a commodity (OED n3. 4b)
wares
goods (whether used in the singular as "ware" or plural)
warily
in a cautious or wary manner
wariness
concern; caution; circumspection
warm
literally warm as a result of physical embrace; also, figuratively, warm in someone's affections or favour
warned
summoned (OED v1. 7a)
warrant
protect; in the legal sense, guarantee (for someone) the security of possessions
warrant
assure, guarantee
warrant
authorisation, sanction, permission
warrant
assure, promise
warrant
(n) ‘a writ or order issued by some executive authority, empowering a ministerial officer to make an arrest, a seizure, or a search, to execute a judicial sentence, or to do other acts incident to the administration of justice’ (OED n1. 10a)
warrantable
assured, guaranteed
warrantable
genuine, legally guaranteed or sanctioned
warrantable
guaranteed virtuous (OED 2)
warranted
authorised, given permission to
warrants
authorises, sanctions
warrens
‘piece[s] of land enclosed and preserved for breeding game’ (OED warren n1, 1a); also used, as now, to refer to a piece of land used for breeding rabbits (OED warren n1, 2a)
wary
cautious
wassail-tide
time when healths are drunk from a wassail-bowl, especially Twelfth Night and New Year’s Eve; time of riotous festivities (with sexual innuendo)
waste
spend, pass
wasted
been consumed or spent needlessly or lavishly (OED waste v, 9)
was’t
was it
wat
hare
watch
watchman, or watchmen; local assistant(s) to the constable
watch
act as sentinel, look-out or guard
watch
await, look out for (OED v. 12b)
watch
(keep) watch, be on the look out, stay awake or alert
watches
vigilance, staying on guard, attentiveness
watching
wakefulness; vigilance (spying)
watchword
password, or prearranged signal
water
urine test
water
liquid of which seas, rivers, lakes are composed
water
urine
watermen
licensed wherry men who plied for hire on the river (in London on the Thames) (OED 2)
wavering
inconstant, fickle
wax
grow (OED v. 1)
way
road, path
way
path, way of life
way
course of action
way and means
method and resources (OED 1a)
waylaid
impeded (OED waylay v, 3); blockaded (OED waylay v, 4)
wayward woman
witch (The term is fraught with overlapping meanings, going back to Macbeth's weyward or weird sisters, figures of fate. According to various dictionaries from 1556 to 1611 on LEME, wayward may mean hard to please, hard to rule, shrewd, testy, foolish, cursed, peevish, surly or rude. To this list, OED adds unreasonable, intractable, perverse, capriciously wilful, and unscrupulous. Such a list at least indicates why people were frightened of women with such traits.)
wea
woe (Yorkshire dialect form)
weakly
poorly, to only a slight degree
weal public
the state
wear out
forget (OED wear v1, 11c, where the earliest example given for this sense dates from 1676)
wearing
style of clothing
wearing
to possess and enjoy as one's own (chiefly used in the phrase "to win and wear" (a lady as one's wife) (OED v1. 8b); however, here applied to the seduction of a woman
weasand
throat, windpipe
weather-headed
light-headed, foolish (OED ppl. a.)
weathercocks
weather-vane designed to point in the direction from which the wind is blowing, often in the shape of a cockerel; used of persons who are changeable, inconstant (likely to change their minds with the wind or common opinion)
wedlock
‘marriage vow or obligation’ (OED n. 1); marriage (OED n. 2c)
weeds
pilgrim's dress (OED weed n2, 5c)
weeds
garment, garb (OED weed n2, 5)
weeds
clothes
ween
think
weigh
consider
weighed
judged
weighty
telling, potent (OED adj. 4a); earnest, solemn (OED adj. 6)
weighty
serious, grave, important
welcomest
most welcome
well
in good fortune; in a state of prosperity (OED adj. 3a)
well
good, appropriately
well
in favour, good standing
well ... well
denoting surprise (sometimes with intervening noun; OED well adv. 24b)
well done
appropriate, fitting, morally good
well fare
farewell
well met
welcome into our company, fortuitously encountered
well said
well done (conventional compliment)
Well said.
Well done
well-deserving
worthy, virtuous
well-ordered
‘exhibiting good order; rightly regulated; carefully arranged; following good lines of conduct or procedure’ (OED adj. 1)
well-read
well-informed, skilled
well-willer
well-wishes, supporter
well-won
gained by hard or honourable effort (OED ppl. a.)
welly
well-nigh, almost, nearly
wench
(in plural) mistresses
wench
young woman; (in this context) prostitute
wench
young woman: also used to refer to a mistress or a whore (see OED n. 2; Williams 3: 1512-13)
wench
young woman (often used pejoratively or dismissively)
wench
young woman
western
from the west of England
wet-shod
wet-shoed, having the feet wet, presumably because the shoes are falling apart and so let water in
wetter
more addicted to drink (OED wet a, 14b); cf. Thomas Nashe, Pierce Penniless his Supplication to the Devil (London, 1592): ‘inveigh against all men but those that keep a wet corner for a friend, and will not think scorn to drink with a good fellow and a soldier’ (p. 33, fol. 16); see also ‘wetting’ below [DM 1.1.speech31].
wetting
being drenched with, or converted into, alcohol; cf. ‘wetter’ in the Prologue [DM 1.1.speech2]
whatnot
anything and everything (OED 1)
whatshacallums
plural contraction of `what-dye-call-um', defined by the OED as an `appellation for a thing or person whose name the speaker forgets, does not know or wish to mention, or thinks not worth mentioning'
whatsicomes
something for which one has forgotten the correct word
wheels
spinning-wheels
whelp
low fellow; impertinent youngster (OED n1. 3b)
whelp
puppy
whelps
ill-conditioned or low fellows; saucy or impertinent young louts; ‘unlicked cubs’, ‘puppies’ (OED n1. 3b)
when
at a time when; an abbreviation for 'when as', where modern usage would deploy 'whereas'.
whenas
whereas (OED 2b); although; while on the contrary
whence
what source
whence
which place
whence
from where
where
whereas
whet up
provoke, sharpen (the term is taken from the image of a boar sharpening its tusks in preparation for an attack or of a grinding stone being used to hone the blade of a weapon)
whether
whichever (of two)
whether
whichever
whether's
which one's (which of two)
Whetstone
grindstone, stone, dull-edged itself, against which knives and other tools may be sharpened.
whiblin
The OED suggests this is slang for 'what-d'ye-call-it', and is of unknown origin.
whiff
breath; burst
while-ere
a while before
whilom
in times past
whim
excentric reference to fanciful creation
whim
pun
whim-whams
trinkets, trifling ornaments of dress (OED 2)
whimper
whine; "utter a feeble, whining, broken cry, as a child about to burst into tears" (OED)
whimsy
A variant of 'whim': a capricious notion or fancy; a fantastic or freakish idea; an odd fancy (OED Whim n, 1 and 3)
whine
cry as if in pain or distress (OED v. 1)
whinnelling
weak, puny; trifling (OED whindle v)
whip
move briskly; slip (OED v. 1b)
whip
move briskly
whipping-post
a post, usually set up in a public place, to which offenders were tied to be whipped
whipping-post
post set up, usually in a public place, to which offenders were tied to be whipped (OED)
whirl
rush, sweep
whirling jacks
semi-automated turnspits, using perpetual motion: the action of the large wheels keep the small wheels turning
whirly
not in OED; it may be short for ‘whirligig’, meaning a fickle, giddy or inconstant person (OED n. 3a); see also ‘whirl’, to make giddy, or to put into a whirl or tumult (OED v. 7)
whirr
growl, purr (OED v. 3b)
whirr
seems to mean ‘hurrying along’, ‘moving swiftly’, or ‘flying’ (see OED v. 1b: ‘To carry or hurry along, to move or stir, with a rushing or vibratory sound’; OED v. 2: ‘To move swiftly in some way (rush, fly, dart, flutter, turn, etc.) with a continuous vibratory sound, as various birds, rapidly revolving wheels, bodies flying quickly through the air, etc.’)
whisk
a variant spelling of the word "whiskin" (meaning a pander, procurer, go-between), which is Brome's customary spelling in The Northern Lass and The City Wit
whiskin
pimp (OED whiskin 2); used here as an intensifier for ‘pimp’
whiskin
(1) northern dialect term in Caroline period for a shallow kind of drinking vessel; (2) slang term for a pander (OED's first recorded usage in this sense)
whiskin
pander (OED cites NV 1632 as the first instance of this usage but CW may well predate this)
whist
hush, keep silent (OED int, 1)
whistle
a jocular, colloquial name for the mouth or throat as used in speaking or singing (OED n. 2)
white
the centre of an archery target
white
spotless (OED adj. 7)
white boy
a pet or darling, male
white broth
sauce thickened with cream, flour, and butter
white girl
favourite, pet, or darling, coined by analogy to ‘white boy’
whitepots
dishes from the Devonshire and Cornwall region, made of milk or cream boiled with eggs, flour, raisins, sugar, spices etc.
whither
where, to what place
whither
(to whatever) place; where
whoe’er
whoever
whole
sound, healthy, well again
wholesale
(day) on which all his possessions were sold
wholesome
beneficial, health-giving
wholesome
beneficial, salutary, mentally or morally healthful (OED 1)
wholesome
healthy, free from corruption
whoop
an exclamation expressing excitement
whoop
an exclamation indicating surprise
whoreson
literally, 'son of a whore', but in practice a rather milder epithet of disdain, something like 'wretched' or 'bloody'
whu
an inarticulate noise indicating astonishment, disgust, dismay, etc.
why-not
Charles Cotton in The Compleat Gamester explains: 'This is the plain Game of Tick-Tack, which is called so from Touch, and take, for if you touch a man you must play him though to your loss; and if you hit your Adversary and neglect the advantage, you are taken with a Why-not, which is the loss of one. ' In backgammon (of which 'tick-tack' is an old form), the loss of one of your counters, another name for the game being 'touch and take', so that when you touch one of your counters (even accidentally) you must move it, even if this disadvantages you against your opponent and results in the loss of one (I think).
whyet
quiet (dialect)
wicket
a small gate or door
wide
astray in opinion or belief, mistaken (now expressed by the full phrase, wide of the mark) (OED adj. 10b)
wigeon
(1) a wild duck; (2) applied to a person, in allusion to the supposed stupidity of the bird; a fool, simpleton, ninny
wild
savage; uncontrolled, unrestrained; reckless; unruly, wayward; wanton, dissolute; savage, violent; passionate; furious; demented
wild
rude, uncivilised; reckless; unruly; passionate; furious; demented
wild
rude, uncivilised; ungoverned, imprudent, rash
wild
fantastic in appearance (OED adj. 13b)
wild cat
applied to a savage or spiteful person
wildcat
mad or demented (OED 2; this is OED’s only example)
wilderness
place of confusion and/or exclusion
wildfire
furious or destructive fire (OED 1), used figuratively to refer to a destructive force (OED 5a); also used for a mixture of highly inflammable substances set on fire and used in warfare (OED 3)
wilding
uncultivated, wild: used of fruit trees, particularly apple and crab-apple
wildness
unruliness, insubordination; excessive liveliness or frolicsomeness (OED 4)
wiles
cunning tricks, strategems, deceits
wilfully
perversely, obstinately (OED adv. 5)
will
here used specifically in the sense of intent and inclination
will
in an early modern context: desire, longing, liking, inclination
will
order, wish, desire
wills
commands, requires
willy-nilly
whether you like it or not
wimble
an auger or carpenter's tool for boring holes in wood
wimple
a garment of linen or silk, worn by women, and folded so that it envelops the head, chin, sides of face and neck
win
persuade, prevail upon (OED win v1, 9a)
wind
lead (OED v1. 11a)
wind
take or place [oneself] (OED v1. 2b)
wind (him) up
gather up his wits
wind him up
praise him
winding
(of a narrative) circuitous, rambling, roundabout
winding
blowing
windpipe
trachea or throat
windy workings
belching and farting
wine
wine-bar, or tavern, on analogy with 'ale' for 'alehouse' (not in OED)
wink
shut one's eyes; fail to see, connive (OED v1. 5a)
wink at
shut your eyes to; ignore
wiped my lips
(idiomatic) took the words out of my mouth
wise folk
witches and magicians, known as wise women and wise men; or cunning women and cunning men, because they have knowledge unavailable to most people: (fore)knowledge and ability to cure, find lost objects, or give advice regarding the future (Heywood’s play The Wise-woman of Hoxton explains the difference between a reputable wise woman and a witch, as does Lyly’s Mother Bombie)
wise-acres
wiseacre: one who would be thought wise
wished
wished for, longed for
wishly
steadfastly, fixedly
wit
a person of lively fancy, who has the faculty of saying smart or brilliant things, now always so as to amuse; a witty person (OED II, 10)
wit
reason, mental capacity (OED n. 2a)
wit
ingenious plan or device (OED n. 6c)
wit
intelligence, wisdom; quickness, ingenuity
witchcraft
black magic (OED 1); ‘Power or influence like that of a magician; bewitching or fascinating attraction or charm’ (OED 2)
with
to
with a wanion
with a plague, with a vengeance
with hazard
involving risk, chancy, dangerous
withal
nevertheless, notwithstanding
withal
substituted for ‘with’ (OED prep.)
withal
besides
withal
moreover; likewise; as well
withal
therewith (OED withal adv, 2), meaning both `thereupon, forthwith' and `in consequence' (OED therewith 2c, 3)
withal
along with the rest
withal
what is more
withhold
hold back
within
inside the defence of (a metaphor from fencing: OED adv. 8b)
within
among (prep.)
within compass
within the bounds of moderation
without
outside
wits
abilities
wits
witty or sharp-minded people
wittol
'man who is aware of and complaisant about the infidelity of his wife; a contented cuckold' (OED 1a); a fool, idiot (1b)
wittolly
an adverb describing the state of a man who is complaisant towards his wife's adultery (and therefore a subject of ridicule)
wittols
men aware of their wives' infidelity
wiving
marrying
Wizards
wise women and wise men, or cunning-men and -women, good or healing witches associated with fortune-telling and hence with gipsies
woeful
sorrowful
wolf
term for a cancerous sore or erosive disease; the term survives medically in the name for the energy-sapping condition known as ‘lupus’ (the Latin word for wolf). The prevailing medical treatment of such a condition in Brome’s day was to apply raw meat to the site of the cancer in the belief that by its feeding on such flesh it would cease to consume the surrounding flesh or organs of the patient.
woman
womanhood
wonder
amazement
wonder
prodigy, astonishing marvel, like an act of magic
wonders
miracles, astonishing or astonishing deeds
wondrous
strangely, marvellously, wonderfully
wonnot
won't
wont
accustomed
wonted
customary, usual
wonted
used (OED wont v, 3)
wonted
accustomed
wonts
habits
woodcocks
proverbially foolish birds, probably as they were relatively easy to catch (See Tilley W746, W748)
wooden horse
the gallows, the scaffold
word
a saying or proverb (OED 10b); motto
word
word of God.
word
command (OED n. 6)
word
speech or utterance (OED 2a, arch.). The reference here is to fulsome giving and receiving of compliments when a simple 'Thank you' from the guest and 'You're welcome' from the host would suffice.
worded
phrased, expressed
wordly-wise
knowledgeable about only earthly or mundane matters
work
sexual act
work
wear out by friction (OED v. 12e)
work
bring about; stir; urge; manipulate
work
a skilfully made, intricate decoration, such as a headpiece or necklace, made of golden wire on and from which jewels were hung
work
prepare, teach, train
work
bring into a particular mental state; move powerfully; induce (a particular state of mind) (OED v. 14a and 14b)
work
(v) influence, prevail upon
work
(n) act, deed
work
needlework
work
move, excite (sexually)
works
acts, deeds; literary compositions
works
(v) urges, influences
worky days
work days (OED workaday)
worldlings
people devoted to earthly pleasures
worried
mangled; maltreated, harassed; troubled or distressed
worrying
attacking (in the way that a wolf would attack sheep) (OED v. 3a); harassing (verbally or physically) (OED v. 5a)
worship
a title of honour, used to address people of high status (OED n. 5a)
worship
good reputation, honour (OED n. 1a); ‘holding a prominent place or rank’, dignity, importance (OED n. 3a)
worship
authority (as a man of good repute and standing, fit to be addressed as "Your worship")
worshipful
Justices of the Peace; as an honorific title for persons or bodies of distinguished rank or importance: formerly used very widely, but now restricted to the livery companies and freemasons' lodges and their masters; "Right worshipful" is applied to mayors (OED 3a)
worst
poorest, least important
worthless
unworthy
wot
know
would
wish
would
wanted (to)
would
I wish that
would
wish (that/to)
would
should
would'st
wishest
wound
drawn, brought (OED wind v1, 11b)
wrack
wreck, ruin; devastation, destruction (OED cites this term as in frequent usage until 1640)
wrangle
an angry and noisy dispute
wrangled
disputed, argued
wranglers
quarrelsome arguers (in the context: highly litigious individuals)
wrangling
arguing
wrath
anger, fury
wreaks
harms, affects adversely, afflicts
wrest
pull, pluck, twist out
wrestling
action of opposition or strife (OED vbl. n, 2a)
wretch
vile or contemptible person (OED n. 3); miser (OED n. 4); OED’s post-medieval examples of the latter meaning are largely Scottish, but this sense is found elsewhere, as in Abraham Fleming’s A Memorial of the Famous Monuments and Charitable Almsdeeds of the Right Worshipful Master William Lambe Esquire (London, 1580), sig. B1v: ‘Do you not remember that the Holy Ghost speaketh of a covetous miser, a wretch, a worldling, one that very busily occupied his head about enlarging his barns, that his soul might be more merry in the middest of his abundance’
wretched
sunk into degradation, vile, despicable
wretched
miserable, impoverished, distressed
wring
squeeze, strain, force
wrinkles
ridges (OED wrinkle n1, 2b and 2c)
writing-book
exercise book used to practice handwriting
wrong
cheating, defrauding, tricking
wrong
betray
wronged
injured, treated unfairly
wrought
worked; created (magic or means)
wrought
decorated, ornamented
wrought
shaped, moulded: in this context means something like 'reduced' or 'transformed'
wrought
worked, moulded
wrought
caused (me to do)
wrought
worked
wrought
(literally) moulded, shaped; (in context) persuaded
wrought in
affected
wrought on
manipulated
Wrought-on
Worked upon, moulded or artifically shaped into another condition.
wry
twisted
w’
with