Shrewdly (1. iv. 11)=severely. A shrew a person of malicious or violent temper, as in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Cp. Chaucer, "The prophet saith, 'Flee shrewednesse and do goodness."" Shrewd has now lost the idea of moral wrong and means 'cunning,' 'far-sighted.' The older meaning survives in Beshrew=wish evil to, as in I. xvi. 2.

Shrouds (11. xiii. 9)= hides: shroud =(1) a garment, (2) a wrapping for the dead. A. S. scrud, allied to 'shred' (a piece of cloth).

Skiff (1. xvii. 6): =a small boat. O. Fr. esquif from H. G. skif, schif a ship, from same root as 'ship.'

Slaked (II. xiv. 16)=quenched. A. S. sleac (1) fluid; (2) mixed with water and so (3) in the modern sense, loose. To slack or slake lime means to loosen it by mixing it with water, and so slaked means mixed with water or any other fluid.

Slogan (II. xx. 2)=a highland war cry. Gaelic sluagh: =a host, and gairm = a cry.

Snood (1. xix. 2)=a fillet or ribbon. A. S. snod, from root meaning to twist.

Sooth (1. xxiv. 3)=(1) true, or (2) as substantive, truth. A. S. sơð, originally pres. part. of verb meaning 'to be,' and so=true. Still survives in 'forsooth,' and 'soothsayer' (i.e. a man who can foretell the truth).

Sparkle (II. iv. 12)=a little spark. Diminutive of spark; from a root meaning to crackle, and so to throw out little bits of burning wood.

Spleen (II. xxvi. 19)=(1) a gland in the body supposed by the Greeks to be the seat of anger, and so (2) anger, vexation. Gk. σλýv. Speed (VI. xxviii. 12)=success. A. S. sped. Cp. such expressions as 'S. George to speed,' i.e. "S. George help me, or give me

success."

Stalwart (1. xxviii. 7)=strong, brave. Either from A. S. stalwyrthe, meaning either 'worth stealing,' or 'good at stealing'; or=stall-worth. i.e. worthy of a 'stall' or place of honour.

Stance (IV. viii. 25)=station. Connected with L. stare to stand, Fr. stance=a station. Cp. stanza=a stop, and so a set of lines of poetry between two breaks.

Stanch (1. vii. 12)=(1) watertight, and so (2) strong. To stanch= to stop a leakage; as in the expression 'to stanch a wound.' O. Fr. estancher. L. stagnare from L. stagnum=a pool where the water has no outlet. Cp. 'stagnant.'

Stark (v. xiii. 18)=(1) as here, rigid, so (2) strong, as in V. X. 40.

Stiff and stark, often used together, as here, have practically the same meaning. Cp. 1 Henry IV. v. iii. 42, "Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff." A. S. stearc, probably from root meaning 'to stretch.'

Steer (v. vii. 16)=a young ox. A. S. steor. The original sense of the word is 'full-grown' or 'strong.' Similarly 'steer' meaning 'to guide' meant originally to hold fast.

Strath (III. iv. 27)=a valley. Gaelic srath. Used generally in combination as Strath-spey=the valley of the Spey.

Streight (II. xxviii. 34) or strait = a difficulty. Now used chiefly in this sense in the plural, e.g. to be in great straits. Strait narrow. O. Fr. estreit. L. strictus from which comes 'strict' directly.

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Swath (III. xiv. 12)=a row of mown grass. A. S. swathu (1) the amount cut in one sweep of the scythe; (2) a row of mown grass; (3) a path. Allied with Low G. swad a swath and swade a scythe. Swath is therefore originally 'a slice' or 'shred,' and is probably the same word as swathe a bandage and swathe to bind. Cp. swaddling clothes, i.e. swathing-clothes as in 1 Henry IV. III. ii. 112.

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Swarthy (III. xiv. 10)=dark, tawny. A. S. sweart-black, probably from a root meaning 'to burn.' Cp. sweltering.

Sweltering (v. xviii. 29)=exhausted or perspiring with heat, used here in practically the same meaning as sweating. Cp. Macbeth, IV. i. 8. 'Swelter'd venom' (i.e. venom exuded like perspiration). Swelter is frequentative of M. E. swelten to swoon or die, from A. S. sweltanto die. The word appears to have acquired the idea of heat from confusion with A. S. swelan to burn, from same root as A. S. sweart. 'Sultry' is the modern form of 'sweltry.'

Symphony (Int. 1. 15)=harmony, harmonious tune. from Gk. ovv with and pwvý a voice.

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L. symphonia

Talisman (VI. xxviii. 30)=(1) a charm or magical character; (2) as here, anything that produces effect as though by magic. Sp. talisman from Arabic tilsam=a magical image or figure.

Tartan (II. xvi. 13)=chequered woollen cloth. Fr. tiretaine. Sp. tiritaña a thin kind of cloth; from tiritar to shake with cold.

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Thrall (VI. xxiv. 4)=a slave; used here for thraldom (slavery). A Scand. word; perhaps from a root meaning 'to pierce,' from which comes 'trill' and 'drill,' in allusion to the custom of piercing the ears of slaves.

Thrill (11. x. 6)=(1) to pierce, as in IV. xxvi. 12; (2) to shudder or make to shudder with emotion. A. S. thyrlian from thyrel (a hole), a compound of thurh (i.e. through) and suffix -el.

Toils (IV. XXV. 1)=nets or snares. Fr. toiles snares. L. tela a

web or net.

Train (IV. xviii. 1)=allurement. M. E. traynen to entice. L. trahere to draw.

Trill (III. x. 23)=(1) trickle, (2) as here, a murmur like that of water trickling. From a Scand. root meaning 'to turn round and round'; and so to roll or trickle. 'Drill' (to bore) is from the same root.

Troll (vi. iv. 23) or trowl=circulate, send round. Used of rolling the tongue in Milton, Paradise Lost, XI. 620. Generally used of passing round the bowl, as e.g. Marmion, Int. VI. 64-5:

"The wassel round, in good brown bowls,

Garnish'd with ribbons, blithely trowls";

or, as here, of singing a song in parts, or with a chorus. Cp. Tempest, III. ii. 129, "Will you troll the catch." Closely allied to 'trawl'=to fish with a drag-net. Cp. O. Fr. troller to hunt with hounds in disorder. G. trollen to roll. Probably all from same original root as 'trill,'

'drill,' etc.

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Trow'd (IV. x. 17) = believed. M. E. trowen to believe, from A. S. treowe=true, from which comes true, troth, etc.

Uncouth (1. xxvii. 25)=unfamiliar, strange. A. S. un- and cuth, past part. of cunnan to know.

Upsees (VI. v. 6) or upsey = in the fashion of. Dutch op-zyn. Generally used in expressions such as Upsey-Dutch or Upsey-English, i.e. in Dutch or English fashion. Cp. Beaumont and Fletcher, Beggar's Bush, "The bowl which must be upsey-English, strong lusty London beer." To drink upsey-Dutch came to mean to be intoxicated, as e.g. Ben Jonson, Alchemist, IV. 4:

"I do not like the fulness of your eye;

It hath a heavy cast, 'tis upsee Dutch."

The word appears to mean here-'Drink till you are drunk.'

Vair (IV. xii. 25)= the fur of a kind of squirrel. Probably from L. varius variegated. Used as a heraldic term for a silver and blue kind of pattern perhaps intended to represent the fur called vair.

Vaward (VI. xvi. 15)=vanguard. 'Van' from Fr. avant (L. ab = from, and ante=before).

Votaress (II. xiii. 15)=one dedicated to a religious life. L. vovere= to vow or dedicate.

M. E. waxen. A. S.

Wax (VI. vi. 21)=to grow or become. weaxan. From Teutonic root meaning 'to grow.'

Weal (II. viii. 13) = prosperity. A. S. welwell.

Weed (v. xvii. 29)=clothing. The word now only survives in the expression 'widow's weeds.' A. S. wad, from a root meaning to wrap round.

Weird (1. xxx. 15)=(1) fate, destiny; (2) as adj., connected with fate, and so (3) as here, strange or supernatural. A. S. wyrd=fate, lit. that which happens, from wurd, stem of weordan to become.

Weltering (VI. xx. 41)=wallowing, rolling about. Welter, a frequentative of M. E. walten to roll over, from same root as 'walk.' Wend (IV. xix. 24)=go; past tense went still used. Whet (IV. xxv. 3)=sharpen. A. S. hwettan. hwat=keen, brave. Original root meaning to excite. While (II. ii. 8) = time. A. S. hwil.

Connected with

Whimper (I. xxiv. 15)=a low whine. To whimper is frequentative of whimpe or whim, another form of whine. A. S. hwinan. Original root probably imitative.

Whinyard (1. viii. 8) = a short sword or knife. Cp.. Butler, Hudibras, 1. ii.—" He snatched his whinyard up." The same word as whinger, as in Lay of the Last Minstrel, v. vii. 9-11:

"And whingers, now in friendship bare,

The social meal to part and share,

Had found a bloody sheath."

Perhaps connected with A. S. winnan to fight and geard a rod or

yard.

Wight (v. xxii. 22)=a person. A. S. wiht. The expression 'no whit'=no person. 'Wight,' meaning strong, is a different word. Witch-elm (Int. I. 2) or wych-elm=drooping-elm. Witch or wich from A. S. wicen, past part. of wican to bend, from which comes 'wicker.'

Wile (VI. xxix. 29)=a trick or deceit. A. S. wil, root unknown. 'Guile' is from same root.

Wold (IV. xii. 7)=a down or open country. The same word as A. S. weald; as in the weald of Sussex.

Won'd (Iv. xiii. 6)=dwelt. Cp. Milton, Paradise Lost, VII. 457: “As from his lair, the wild beast, where he wonns. A. S. wunian = (1) to dwell, (2) to become accustomed to. Allied to A. S. wuna=custom, from a root meaning to strive after, and so, to become accustomed to, from which comes 'win.' The past part. wont is still used, e.g. in I. xx. 20, in the sense accustomed.'

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Wot (VI. xi. 23)=know. Properly ist or 3rd pers. singular, Pres.

Ind. of the verb to wit (Past Part. wist) from A. S. witan=to know.

Wreak (IV. xxviii. 6) = revenge. A. S. wrecanto punish, originally to drive, from which come 'wrack' and 'wreck.'

Yeoman (v. xx. 34)=(1) country-man; (2) man of small estate, derivation uncertain; probably from A. S. gá=a district and man.

Yore (II. xv. 3)=in old time. A. S. geara=formerly, the genitive plural of gear a year.

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