c Opinion.
d Combustible material for setting fire to enemies' ships.
e Lightning or any bright flame. Poetic usage, found in Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel, canto 6, stanza 25, line 10.
f Ill-natured.
g Maidservant.
h Deceitfulness.
i A fabric of stiff cotton.
j Deep hollows.
k Bearing.
l Peacock chicks.
m Destination (archaic).
n Kin, literally and figuratively.
o Performing wearying labor.
p Device for punishing offenders by locking their hands and feet in a wooden frame.
q Boards strapped across the back to straighten posture.
r Any small room.
s Roused my temper (dialect).
t Child's bed.
u Slapped.
v Trade, commerce.
w Part of a garden.
x Coward.
y Linen cloth.
z Of excellent flavor.
aa About to snow (dialect).
ab Cloak.
ac Plain woolen material.
ad A particular prayer that varies according to day.
ae Exhaustion caused by hunger and thirst.
af A cloth worn around the neck.
ag A small bag or pouch.
ah Irises.
ai Forehead.
aj Rancid (dialect).
ak Marks of punctuation.
al Embroider.
am Twilight.
an Frozen (dialect).
ao Weekly.
ap Overcoat.
aq An up-and-coming man; one rising to prominence.
ar A hairpiece worn over the forehead.
as The supreme god of Hinduism.
at A title of Krishna in Hinduism, used metaphorically to refer to blind devotion to idols.
au An imaginary feast, from a tale in The Arabian Nights.
av The reference is to Aelbert Cuyp, a Dutch landscape painter of the seventeenth century.
aw Fluently (now rare).
ax In northern English dialect, "ing" means a swampy meadow, "holm," low-lying land near water, and "beck," a brook.
ay A tablet that releases aromatic medication when burnt.
az Grave.
ba By the rules.
bb Remain awake.
bc Expelled due to failing exams.
bd A drink of sweetened wine and hot water.
be A piece of armor; breast and back plates.
bf "Is that my governess?" ... "Why, yes, of course."
bg A short song.
bh "What's the matter then?" says one of the mice to her; "Speak!"
bi A lustrous mineral.
bj Dyed purple or crimson, as in ancient Tyre.
bk White marble.
bl Here meaning moral qualities or reputation, rather than personality in the modern sense.
bm An alley or passage.
bn Sounds that are divided into syllables like speech.
bo "Ladies, dinner is served!" ... "I am very hungry."
bp Parenthetically.
bq "Come back soon, my good friend, my dear Miss Janie."
br "Hips" are berries of the wild rose; "haws," of the hawthorn.
bs A sound like a sigh or murmur.
bt Woolen material.
bu Pruned.
bv Friend.
bw Adele adds the "de" to indicate the status of nobility.
bx "And that must mean... that there will be a gift inside for me, and perhaps for you too, Miss. Mr. Rochester has talked about you: he asked me the name of my governess, and if she wasn't a small person, rather thin and a little pale. I said yes; because it's true, isn't it, Miss?"
by Irascible temper.
bz Free of embarrassment.
ca "Isn't it so, sir, that there is a gift for Miss Eyre in your little chest?"
cb Deserved rewards.
cc Types of tables and cabinets.
cd Fairies were said to dance in rings.
ce Nuns.
cf Pressed close together, like soldiers in ranks.
cg Crowned.
ch The mountain where the goddess of the moon, Selene, saw her beloved Endymion.
ci Little chest.
cj "My box! My box!"
ck "Keep quiet child; do you understand?"
cl "Oh, heavens! It's so beautiful!"
cm One who takes part in a conversation.
cn A young nun.
co And I insist on it.
cp Rusting (dialect; obsolete).
cq Knows.
cr "I must try it on! ... and right away!"
cs "Is my dress all right? And my shoes? And my stockings? Wait, I believe I am going to dance!"
ct "Thank you so very much, sir, for your kindness... Mama used to do it just like that, didn't she?"
cu Like that.
cv Great passion.
cw Athletic build.
cx Town house.
cy Lacework.
cz A foolish lover.
da Munching. It is unclear whether "the barbarism" refers to the use of French as the participle with the English "was," or to the combination of eating chocolates and smoking tobacco.
db Carriage.
dc My angel.
dd Gate.
de Sky, heavens.
df Rake; a man devoted to sensual pleasures, especially sexual conquests.
dg Masculine beauty.
dh A hen that has roup, a respiratory disease that causes hoarse, labored breathing, is said to be "in the pip."
di Little girl.
dj Domestic tableware, often of silver.
dk Bread or cereal made from sago starch.
dl "What's the matter? Your hands tremble like a leaf, and your cheeks are red: as red as cherries!"
dm An illusory light in the marshes, used figuratively for delusive hopes; also called will-o'-the-wisp.
dn Outmoded.
do The name of an executioner in The Arabian Nights.
dp "They are changing."
dq "At mama's, when there were a lot of people, I would follow them everywhere, in the drawing room and to their rooms; often I would watch the maids dress the ladies and do their hair, and it was so much fun; that's how you learn."
dr "Yes, of course; it's been five or six hours since we've eaten."
ds "Projection" and "crucibles" refer humorously to the transmutation of metals in alchemy.
dt "And then what a shame!"
du "May I take just one of these magnificent flowers? Just to add the finishing touch to my outfit."
dv A funny little face.
dw Diana, goddess of hunting.
dx "Hello, ladies."
dy A distinguished old gentleman of the kind found in the theater.
dz Subject.
ea "Too bad!"
eb discordant music.
ec Naughty.
ed Like a sick hen that breathes hard; see page 173.
ee The beautiful passion.
ef At any rate.
eg Tease.
eh Provision, possession.
ei Pirates; Lord Byron published his very popular poem The Corsair in 1814.
ej With spirit.
ek "Be very careful!"
el Saques, modes, and lappets were articles of women's clothing antiquated in Bronte's day.
em Heathen, especially referring to Muslim (archaic).
en Used for strangling.
eo Prison.
ep "Mr. Rochester has returned!"
eq Candleholders set in the wall.
er Old wives.
es Old woman.
et A tinker, one who mends and sells pots and pans; beggar.
eu soldiers chosen to lead an attack.
ev Soldiers in the front position.
ew The appropriate thing to do.
ex The Devil.
ey Prophetess.
ez Tangled hair.
&n
bsp; fa Laughed snickeringly (dialect).
fb Devilry.
fc Dark-skinned.
fd Nonsensical chatter.
fe Age (poetic usage, and archaic).
ff Bed curtain.
fg Mysterious.
fh Spell.
fi An airy spirit.
fj Gate.
fk "Cairngorm" is a smoky-brown or topaz-yellow rock crystal, though the reference here is possibly to eyes that are hard and bright like the stone.
fl An odd person (now rare).
fm Imaginary.
fn A clock with a chime or bell to awaken a sleeper.
fo Written directions for the conduct of a divine service.
fp Tough and dry.
fq Swallowing.
fr A hired coach.
fs A queen of early Britain who led a revolt against the Romans.
ft A love potion.
fu "Good evening."
fv "Ready to devour her little English mama." See croquant, p. 161.
fw Ladybug.
fx To bring over to one's side by strong persuasion.
fy Without Miss Eyre.
fz "Oh, she'll be uncomfortable there!"
ga A real liar.
gb Fairy tales.
gc "Furthermore, there were no fairies, and even if there were some ..."
gd In this context, a section of a theater where bejeweled ladies sit.
ge A princess whom Zeus seduced as a shower of gold.
gf A Turkish pasha of high rank; the number of tails--horsetails--hung on the pasha's standard indicates his rank.
gg "Steady me."
gh Lose; ruin.
gi Deo volente (Latin), "God willing."
gj Clothes-rack.
gk Hypochondria is a morbid mental condition characterized by melancholy or anxiety with no external cause.
gl A kind of lace.
gm In sympathy with democratic rather than monarchic ideas.
gn Ravenous (rare).
go A person born in the West Indies, but the term could also imply mixed racial ancestry.
gp An agent of the Mason family in Funchal, capital of Madeira.
gq The reference is to a wasting disease, often consumption.
gr Wretchedly lonely.
gs Muddy swamp.
gt A mythical tree capable of killing all life around it.
gu In this context, breeding, ancestry.
gv Here, "intemperate" could refer to an overly passionate, violent temperament, or specifically to excessive use of alcohol.
gw A sudden, fleeting appearance; see ignis fatuus, page 184.
gx Countesses.
gy Messalina, known for excessive greed and lust, was the wife of the Roman emperor Claudius; "Indian" refers to Bertha's Creole ancestry.
gz A variation of the word grip.
ha A seamstress who does simple sewing, as opposed to fancy work (and consequently is paid much less for her labors).
hb Inflated, lofty language.
hc "Then there stepped forth one, in appearance like the starry sky.... I weight thoughts in the scale of my anger, and deeds with the weight of my wrath!" The quotation is from [Johann Christoph] Friedrich von Schiller's The Robbers, act V, scene 1.
hd Rigid in death.
he Afoot.
hf Bickered.
hg Vigorous, strong.
hh "Election" and "reprobation" refer to God's predetermination of salvation and damnation.
hi Suitable.
hj Glazed earthenware from Delft, in Holland.
hk Britain.
hl In Persian myth, a kind of beautiful fairy.
hm A freak or jest of nature.
hn Pity.
ho That is, adherents of "natural religion," who believe in a Supreme Being but reject other supernatural doctrines of Christianity.
hp A variety of rose, and the literal meaning of the name Rosamond.
hq "Who will benefit?"; used colloquially to mean "What is the point?"
hr A kind of leather.
hs "Paysannes" and "Bauerinnen": French and German women of the peasant class, respectively.
ht Or Kaffir; used popularly for African, and not always as a pejorative.
hu Unseemly, unsuitable (dialect).
hv Dying.
hw Topmost part.
hx Put to the test.
hy Assistant.
hz A priest in charge of sacred mysteries.
ia Furiously.
ib Paid.
ic Carelessness.
id Opposite ends of the earth.
ie Woods containing game.
if A grassy plot.
ig A country house with farm buildings.
ih Lonely (northern English dialect).
ii A lame person.
ij Are something like.
ik A spirit with a shaggy appearance.
il Tidied, put in order (dialect).
im "Still young."
in Laced ankle boots, worn in the country and therefore unfashionable.
io The strong but lame and ugly Roman god of volcanoes and destructive fire, also identified with the Greek god Hephaestus, husband of Aphrodite.
ip Neck (slang).
iq Probably dialect pronunciation of "not foul [northern British dialect for ugly]"; some editors prefer "no fool."
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
(Series: # )
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