| Term | Definition |
|---|
| inquisitor | a harsh or rigorous questioner |
| wont | accustomed |
| orthodox | adhering to accepted beliefs, especially in religion |
| tilt | aim a lance in a joust |
| savory | appetizing |
| convocation | assembly, especially of clergymen |
| append | attach as an addition |
| fawn | attempt to please |
| interdict | ban from church sacraments |
| bay | barking or howling |
| pejorative | belittling; cutting down |
| catechism | book giving basic principles of Christianity |
| broach | bring up for debate |
| simony | buying or selling of church pardons or offices |
| vulnerable | can be injured |
| immobile | cannot be moved |
| multifaceted | capable of doing many things well |
| extemporaneous | carried out with little or not preparation |
| terra cotta | ceramic clay used in pottery |
| fetter | chain |
| idiosyncrasy | characteristic peculiar to an individual |
| usury | charging interest for lending money |
| canon | church law |
| exculpate | clear of blame |
| farthing | coin once used in Great Britain worth ¼ penny |
| amalgamate | combine into a whole |
| injunction | command |
| arabesque | complicated design of intertwined floral and geometric figures |
| melee | confused hand-to-hand fighting |
| orthography | correct spelling |
| synod | council of church officials |
| late | deceased |
| a priori | deductive; based on theory rather than experiment |
| venison | deer meat |
| forswear | deny under oath |
| habit | distinctive clothing of a religious order |
| tenet | doctrine, something believed in |
| leitmotiv | dominant and repeated theme |
| melodrama | drama with exaggerated emotions and interpersonal conflicts |
| circumscribe | draw a line around |
| gullible | easily deceived |
| affable | easy and pleasant to speak to |
| indulgence | erasing of punishments of sin |
| impertinent | exceeding the limits of good manners |
| save | except |
| gluttony | excess in eating |
| articulate | expressing something clearly |
| excommunicate | expulsion from the church |
| façade | face of a building |
| delusion | false belief or opinion |
| pedigree | family tree |
| misgiving | feeling of doubt |
| stalwart | firm and resolute |
| arable | fit for growing crops |
| cadence | flow of rhythm |
| minor friar | Franciscans |
| gratis | free |
| cognizant | fully informed |
| dirge | funeral hymn |
| obsequies | funeral rite or ceremony |
| largesse | generous gifts |
| eradicate | get rid of |
| succumb | give in to |
| abdication | give up power formally |
| morose | gloomy |
| copious | great in quantity |
| valise | hand luggage |
| antipathy | hatred |
| intricate | having many complexly arranged elements |
| futile | having no useful result |
| miter | head covering a bishop |
| cap-a-pie | head to foot |
| pompous | high-sounding; having excessive self-esteem |
| chimera | imaginary monster made up of disparate parts |
| abyss | immeasurable chasm or void |
| avarice | immoderate desire for wealth |
| inextricable | impossible to get disentangled |
| ecstasy | intense joy or delight |
| interim | interval of time in between |
| asunder | into separate pieces |
| incontinent | lacking control |
| invective | language that is strongly denouncing |
| surname | last name |
| stipulate | lay down as a condition |
| sloth | laziness |
| promenade | leisurely walk or place to walk leisurely |
| plausible | likely |
| pentameter | line of verse with five metrical feet |
| suzerain | lord to whom loyalty was due |
| strident | loud, harsh, grating |
| manor | main house on an estate |
| augment | make greater |
| adulterate | make impure by adding something |
| hart | male red deer over five years old |
| cuckold | man married to an unfaithful wife |
| minotaur | man-bull – boys and girls sacrificed to him each year |
| requiem | Mass for a dead person |
| rendezvous | meeting at a prearranged time |
| dexterity | mental or physical skill and grace; adroitness |
| postscript | message attached to the end of a letter |
| medley | mixture |
| paragon | model of perfection |
| minster | monastery church |
| alms | money for the poor |
| magnanimity | noble generosity |
| sterile | not capable of producing offspring |
| indifferent | not mattering one way or the other |
| naïve | not worldly wise; simple and credulous as a child |
| corpulence | obesity; fatness |
| apocryphal | of questionable authorship or authenticity |
| petty | of small importance or authenticity |
| abject | of the lowest kind |
| harbinger | one that signals what is to come |
| heretic | one who denies any official teaching of the church |
| miser | one who spends little to save up in a greedy way |
| frank | open and sincere |
| prototype | original type which serves as a model |
| syntax | pattern of formation of sentences or phrases |
| lute | pear shape stringed musical instrument |
| ward | person under the protection of another |
| hypocrite | person who does not practice what he preaches |
| purgatory | place for souls to be punished for forgiven sins |
| gendarme | policeman |
| tangible | possible to touch |
| predilection | preference |
| canto | principal divisions of a long poem |
| privy | private |
| prolific | producing many works |
| piazza | public square in an Italian town |
| chastise | punish |
| juxtaposed | put side by side or close together |
| peruse | read or examine with great care |
| ricochet | rebound from a surface |
| archive | record |
| finesse | refinement, skillful handling of a situation |
| Tuscany | region of western Italy north of Rome – Florence = capital |
| dialect | regional variety of a language |
| repudiate | reject |
| germane | relevant; fitting |
| alleviate | relieve |
| prefiguration | representation in advance |
| garret | room in the attic |
| errant | roving, especially in search of adventure |
| cravat | scarf worn around the neck as a tie |
| blasphemy | scornful utterance toward God |
| aplomb | self-confidence; poise |
| schism | separation of a church into divisions |
| keen | sharp |
| acute | sharp |
| prithee | short for "pray thee"; ask you |
| myopic | short sighted |
| maxim | short statement of a rule of conduct or principle |
| staccato | short, disconnected |
| debonair | smoothly agreeable; courteous |
| colossus | something likened to a huge statue |
| detriment | something that causes damage or harm |
| precedent | something that happened before that is used as an example |
| enigma | something that is puzzling, ambiguous, a riddle |
| lay | song |
| onomatopoeia | sound of the word imitates the meaning of the word |
| paroxysm | spasm or fit; convulsion |
| rant | speak in a loud manner |
| eulogy | speech praising a person |
| ferment | stage of agitation or turbulent change |
| coherent | sticking together in a logical mental order |
| parsimony | stinginess |
| sarcophagus | stone coffin |
| capitulate | surrender |
| treatise | systematic written discourse on a subject |
| deflower | take away the virginity of |
| loquacious | talkative |
| apostrophe | talking to an absent person or abstraction |
| repertoire | the list of works a performer can play |
| pensive | thinking deeply |
| gratuity | tip, bonus |
| shun | to avoid deliberately |
| flatter | to compliment insincerely to win favor |
| annul | to declare invalid or void |
| abjure | to renounce under oath |
| obsequious | too anxious to help; fawning |
| surfeit | too much food or drink |
| metamorphosis | transformation |
| ebony | tropical tree, black in color |
| fortnight | two weeks |
| ambivalence | uncertainty as to which course to follow |
| unscathed | unhurt |
| livery | uniform worn by male servants |
| fathom | unit of length – 6 feet |
| extricate | untangle oneself from |
| sundry | various |
| sonnet | verse form with 14 lines and a special rhyme scheme |
| minute | very small |
| felicitous | very well suited |
| frequent | visit often |
| arras | wall hanging; tapestry |
| cordial | warm and sincere |
| iniquity | wickedness |
| humane | with kindness, mercy, compassion |
| amoral | without morals |
| parody | work which imitates another for comic effect |
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