y, exceedingly
405 follows not is not logical/is not the next line
408 lot chance
408 wot knows
410 like likely
411 row line
411 chanson song
412 my abridgements things that cut me short/entertainment (in either case, the arrival of the players) 415 valanced fringed (with a beard)
415 beard defy, affront (plays on the usual sense)
416 By'r lady by Our Lady (the Virgin Mary)
417 your ladyship addressed to a teenage apprentice actor who plays women's parts 418 chopine high woman's shoe with a very thick platform sole
419 uncurrent not legal tender
419 cracked ... ring i.e. broken, and therefore unfit for women's roles, with play on the sense of "deflowered" (coins featured the monarch's head within a ring; if the coin was damaged within the ring it was no longer valid) 420 e'en to't go straight to it
422 straight straightaway
422 quality skill
427 caviar ... general i.e. wasted on the unappreciative multitude 429 cried ... of was superior to
430 digested arranged
431 modesty restraint/propriety
431 cunning skill, artistry
432 sallets salads or their components (i.e. spicy parts, vulgar phrases) 432 savoury highly flavored
433 indict accuse
434 as ... fine this line is missing from the Folio text, probably due to printer's error (the same goes for the short line at the end of Hamlet's speech) 435 handsome than fine seemly and graceful rather than showy
436 Aeneas' ... Dido after the Trojan war Aeneas landed at Carthage, where Dido was queen; he told of his experiences and she fell in love with him 437 Priam king of Troy, killed by Pyrrhus during the attack on his city 440 rugged harsh, severe
440 Pyrrhus Achilles' son; after the death of his father in the Trojan war, he took part in the conflict and was noted for his vengeful savagery 440 th'Hyrcanian beast the tiger of Hyrcania (land bordering the Caspian Sea), known for its ferocity 442 sable black
444 couched hidden
444 ominous horse fateful wooden horse by which the Greeks gained access to Troy 446 heraldry more dismal i.e. blood, imaged as heraldic markings 446 dismal ominous, fatal
447 total gules entirely red (gules is a heraldic term) 447 tricked adorned/delineated (heraldic term for the sketching of a coat of arms) 449 impasted dried into a crust
449 parching scorching (because burning)
450 tyrannous harsh
452 o'er-sized covered, as if with size (a sticky substance used to treat paper)/rendered larger (through a thick covering of blood) 452 coagulate coagulated, congealed
453 carbuncles red gems supposed to emit light in the dark
454 grandsire grandfather (Priam had fifty sons and numerous grandchildren) 457 discretion judgment
458 Anon shortly
459 too short inadequately (presumably because of his old age)
459 antique old
461 Repugnant resistant
463 whiff and wind i.e. mere slicing through the air
463 fell fierce
464 Th'unnerved the weakened
464 senseless incapable of feeling
464 Ilium Troy/the royal palace at Troy
467 Takes ... ear i.e. the noise arrests him in mid-action 468 declining descending
468 milky white with age
470 painted motionless as if in a painting/blood-covered
471 like ... matter suspended between his will and its effect
473 against in anticipation of/before
474 rack clouds
475 orb i.e. earth
477 region sky
479 Cyclops one-eyed giants who worked for the blacksmith god Vulcan making armor for the gods 480 Mars his Mars' (Roman god of war)
480 proof eterne eternal impenetrability
481 remorse pity
484 synod assembly
485 fellies pieces of wood that form the rim of a wheel
485 wheel the wheel of Fortune, according to the turns of which men rose or fell 486 nave central part of the wheel, the hub
490 jig a light, often bawdy, entertainment that took place after the main play and involved singing and dancing 491 Hecuba wife of King Priam
492 who whoever
492 mobled muffled/veiled
496 bisson rheum blinding tears
496 clout cloth
497 late recently
497 diadem crown
498 lank shrunken, empty
498 o'er-teemed exhausted with childbearing
500 Who ... seen whoever had seen this
501 state rule, government
501 pronounced spoken
507 milch milk-producing, i.e. tearful
508 passion (produced) grief
509 whe'er whether
512 bestowed lodged
513 used treated
513 abstracts summaries, epitomes
516 desert merit, worth
517 God's bodikins by God's little body
517 after according to
520 bounty generosity
525 ha't have it
525 for a need if necessary
526 study memorize
537 But merely
538 conceit imagination
539 her i.e. conceit's, imagination's
539 wanned paled
540 distraction distress, agitation
540 aspect expression/glance
541 his ... conceit all of his natural powers furnishing actions to match his imaginings 546 motive provocation (modern sense of "motivation" of a dramatic character did not yet exist, though cue is clearly an actor's term) 548 horrid terrifying, horrifying
549 appal make pale/shock
549 free innocent
550 Confound stun/confuse
550 the ignorant those who know nothing of the crime
550 amaze bewilder/terrify/stun
552 muddy-mettled dull-spirited
552 peak mope, languish
553 John-a-dreams general name for a dreamy person
553 unpregnant of sluggish toward, not prompted by
555 property regal identity/kingdom
556 defeat destruction
557 pate head
558 Plucks off pulls a tuft from
559 Gives ... lungs? Calls me an outrageous liar?
560 me this this to me
563 pigeon-livered pigeons were proverbially gentle birds, supposed to lack gall (bitterness/anger) 565 region kites sky's birds of prey
566 offal intestines/remains
567 Remorseless pitiless
567 kindless unnatural
569 brave fine/bold
573 drab prostitute/slut
573 scullion lowest domestic servant
574 About about it, to work
576 cunning skill
577 presently immediately
578 malefactions wrongdoings, crimes
583 tent probe (as one would a wound)
583 blench flinch/turn pale
588 spirits i.e. melancholy
590 relative relevant/cogent/substantial
Act 3 Scene 1
1 drift of circumstance course of roundabout talk
3 Grating fretting/harping, dwelling querulously upon/wearing away
7 forward ready, inclined
7 sounded questioned, probed
13 disposition inclination
14 Niggard of question sparing in his questions/reluctant to initiate conversation 14 demands questions
16 assay try to tempt
18 o'erraught overtook
28 edge sharpness of inclination/incitement
32 closely secretly/privately
34 Affront come face-to-face with
35 espials spies
48 Gracious your grace (addressed to the king)
50 exercise devout practice (the book is presumably of a religious nature) 50 colour Your loneliness account for the fact that you are alone 52 visage face, appearance
57 plast'ring art i.e. cosmetics
58 to ... it compared to the cosmetics that improve it
64 slings catapults, ballista, cannons or the missiles hurled by them 64 outrageous excessively wicked/violent, cruel
68 shocks violent blows/clashes with the enemy
69 consummation ending
71 rub obstacle (a bowling term)
73 shuffled off cast off/evaded/got rid of in a perfunctory or unsatisfactory manner 73 mortal coil bustle or turmoil of this mortal life
74 respect consideration
75 of ... life continue for so long
76 scorns insults, mockeries
77 contumely insolence, contempt, insulting language or behavior
78 disprized undervalued/dishonored
79 office office-holders
79 spurns kicks
80 of ... takes receives from those who are unworthy
81 quietus discharge of debts (i.e. death)
82 bare mere/unsheathed
82 bodkin dagger/awl/pointed instrument
82 fardels burdens
85 bourn boundary
86 puzzles bewilders, confounds
89 conscience consciousness/introspection/awareness of right and wrong 90 native hue natural color
91 cast tinge, shade
92 pith and moment substance and importance
94 Soft you wait a moment
95 orisons prayers
100 remembrances keepsakes, love tokens
110 honest chaste
112 fair beautiful
114 your ... beauty your chastity should hold no dealings with your beauty/your chastity should not permit anyone to converse with your beauty 116 commerce interaction (Hamlet picks up on the sense of "sexual dealings") 120 his its (i.e. honesty's)
121 sometime once
121 paradox seemingly absurd statement/observation that contradicts commonly held beliefs 124 virtue ... it virtue cannot be so successfully grafted onto an old sinful tree without some flavor of sin being retained 127 nunnery convent, playing on slang sense of "brothel"
128 indifferent honest moderately virtuous
131 beck command
142 calumny slander
144 monsters men with unfaithful wives were traditionally supposed to grow horns 147 paintings use of cosmetics
149 amble walk with an easy (or an exaggerated) motion
149 lisp speak in an affected manner
150 make ... ignorance use innocence as an excuse for behavior that is willful/affected/promiscuous 151 on't of it
157 expectancy hope
158 glass of fashion mirror on whose image men model themselves 158 form etiquette/ideal pattern
164 blown blooming
165 Blasted with ecstasy destroyed by madness
167 affections emotions
170 on brood brooding, like a bird sitting on eggs
171 doubt fear
171 disclose disclosure/hatching
174 set it down decided
175 tribute regular amount paid by one state to another, usually in return for peace 176 Haply perhaps/with luck
177 objects sights
178 something-settled matter somewhat fixed preoccupation (perhaps with medical sense "festering pus" or, sinisterly, "stagnant blood") 180 fashion of himself his usual behavior, his old self
188 round blunt/severe
190 find him not fails to find the cause of his unhappiness
Act 3 Scene 2
2 trippingly nimbly
2 mouth declaim, speak pompously
3 as lief as soon, rather
8 robustious boisterous/unruly
8 periwig-pated wig-wearing
10 groundlings members of the audience standing in the yard in front of the stage, the cheapest place from which to watch 10 are capable of can understand
11 dumb shows mimes/unsophisticated spectacles
12 Termagant imaginary deity believed to have been worshipped by Muslims and represented in the old mystery plays as a violent, overbearing person 13 Herod biblical king who featured in the mystery plays as a raging tyrant 14 warrant assure
15 discretion judgment
18 modesty restraints
18 from i.e. far from
22 pressure stamp, impression
23 come tardy off performed inadequately
23 unskilful ignorant, unsophisticated
24 censure judgment/criticism
25 the which one one of whom
25 allowance admission, acknowledgment
31 journeymen laborers
32 abominably plays on the popular misconception that the word was derived from Latin ab homine, i.e. "away from man, unnatural" (previously spelled "abhominably") 33 indifferently moderately well
37 of some among
38 barren apathetic/dull-witted
39 necessary question important aspect
41 uses does, practices
43 presently imminently
50 As ... withal as ever my dealings with people brought me into contact with 56 candied sugared (i.e. flattering)
57 crook bend
57 pregnant ready
58 thrift profit
60 election choice
61 sealed designated (literally, placed a legally binding seal upon) 62 As ... nothing like one who endures everything with fortitude and is not wounded by any of it 62 suffering undergoing/enduring (the sense then shifts to "is hurt by") 63 buffets blows
65 blood passion
67 stop note produced by placing the finger over a hole in a wind instrument 69 core puns on the Latin cor meaning "heart"
75 the ... soul your most insightful, penetrating consideration
76 occulted hidden
77 unkennel reveal (as a fox is driven out of its hole)
78 damned i.e. evil, devilish
79 foul black, grimy
80 Vulcan's stithy the forge of Vulcan, Roman god of fire and blacksmiths 80 heedful note careful attention
83 censure ... seeming forming an opinion of his appearance
85 steal aught gets away with anything
86.1 march i.e. march played on drums
87 idle unoccupied/mad
89 fares is (but Hamlet responds to the sense of "feeds")
90 chameleon's dish supposedly these reptiles fed on air
91 capons castrated cockerels fattened to make their meat more flavorsome 92 have nothing with gain nothing from
93 not mine nothing to do with my question (Hamlet responds to the sense of "do not belong to me") 98 i'th'Capitol at Capitoline Hill, site of the temple of supreme Roman god Jupiter 100 brute brutal/stupid/animal (with obvious pun on Brutus) 100 part deed/role
100 calf fool
102 stay ... patience await your permission (to start)
104 metal more attractive more magnetic metal (metal puns on "mettle" for an additional sense of "one of a more pleasing disposition") 106 lie ... lap recline upon your lap/have sex with you
110 country matters sex (country puns on "cunt") 114 Nothing i.e. "no thing" (vagina)
118 your only jig-maker I'm your unrivaled composer of jigs (bawdy playlets) 123 suit of sables luxurious suit trimmed with dark-colored sable fur 126 suffer ... on be forgotten
127 hobby-horse artificial horse fastened around the waist of one of the participants in a morris dance; the hobby-horse is forgot was a popular phrase 128.1 Hautboys oboe-like instruments
128.1 protestation solemn declaration (of love)
128.1 passionate action gestures of extreme grief 128.1 Mutes i.e. other actors
130 miching malicho lurking iniquity, skulking mischief
131 Belike presumably
131 argument plot
133 counsel a secret
135 show sexual display
135 be not you if you are not
137 naught indecent/offensive
141 posy of a ring short (usually cliched) verse motto engraved on a ring 144 Phoebus' cart the sun god's chariot
145 Neptune's salt wash i.e. the sea (of which Neptune was god) 145 Tellus' orbed ground i.e. the earth (of which Tellus was goddess) 146 borrowed sheen reflected radiance
148 Hymen god of marriage
149 bands bonds
154 distrust fear for
155 Discomfort dismay, discourage
156 holds quantity are to be found in the same proportions
157 In ... extremity they are either nonexistent or excessive
158 proof tried and tested experience
159 as ... so my fear is just as great as my love
161 operant vital/active
161 leave to do cease to perform
165 confound destroy (i.e. do not say)
168 None no woman
169 Wormwood i.e. that's bitter (the sharp-tasting plant was also used to purge the digestive tract of worms, so there may also be a suggestion of bringing forth gnawing guilt) 170 instances motives
170 move prompt
171 respects of thrift considerations of personal profit
176 Purpose ... validity our intentions are subject to the weakness of memory, being passionate at the outset, but lacking in endurance 178 Which i.e. purpose
180 Most ... debt it is inevitable that we should forget to fulfill our obligations to ourselves 185 enactures fulfillments, performances
187 Grief ... accident i.e. one extreme of emotion turns to its opposite at the slightest event 188 aye ever
192 down fallen in fortune
193 poor advanced poor man who improves his station in life
194 hitherto up to this point (in the argument)
194 tend attend/serve
195 who not needs he who does not lack fortune
196 who in want he who, being in need
196 try test
197 seasons him ripens him into
200 devices plans
200 still continually
201 ends outcomes
204 Nor let neither
205 Sport ... night let me be barred from recreation during the day and rest at night 206 opposite opposing force
206 blanks makes pale
207 Meet ... destroy (may it) encounter and destroy everything that I would like to see prosper 208 here and hence in this and in the next world
212 fain willingly
212 beguile while away
217 protests makes declarations, vows
219 offence offensive matter (Hamlet shifts the sense to "actual injury/real crime") 221 jest pretend, act
224 Tropically figuratively
225 duke's i.e. king's
228 galled jade saddle-sore old horse
228 wince kick out from pain
229 withers part of the horse's back between the shoulder blades 229 unwrung not pinched or chafed
231 chorus actor who narrated or interpreted parts of a play
232 interpret provide dialogue as an actor does in a puppet show/act as a go-between 233 puppets possibly plays on a sense of "breasts/genitals"
233 dallying spending idle time together/flirting/having sex
234 keen quick/cutting
235 groaning the moans of a woman losing her virginity (or possibly subsequently, in labor) 235 take ... edge deter my sharp wit/blunt my sexual appetite/cause me to lose my erection 236 better, and worse i.e. wittier, yet more insulting