husbandry | the judicious use of resources (frugal; wasteful)”There’s husbandry in heaven; their candles are all out.” [Banquo] |
repose | to lie still (rest; wake)”Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature gives way to in repose.” [Banquo]”Good repose the while!” [Macbeth] |
largess | generous bestowal of gifts (donation; loan)”[Duncan] hath been in unusual pleasure and sent forth great largess to your offices.” [Banquo] |
entreat | to ask earnestly, beseech (beg; command)”Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve…” [Macbeth to Banquo] |
augment | to enlarge in size, number, strength, or extent (amplify; decrease)”So I lose none in seeking to augment it, but still keep my bosom franchised.” [Banquo] |
franchised | freedom, especially from imprisonment, servitude, or moral restraint (free; burdened)”So I lose none in seeking to augment it, but still keep my bosom franchised.” [Banquo] |
palpable | able to be touched or felt (tangible; imperceptible)”I see thee yet in form as palpable as this which now I draw.” [Macbeth] |
dudgeon | a feeling of offense or deep resentment (resentment)”…and on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood.” [Macbeth] |
gouts | a drop or spot, especially of blood, smoke, or flame”…and on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood.” [Macbeth] |
sentinel | a soldier or guard whose job it is to stand and keep watch (defender; enemy)”…and withered murderer, alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf.” [Macbeth] |
stealthy | behaving in a cautious manner as to not be heard or seen (secretive; conspicuous)”Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace…” [Macbeth] |
ravish(ing) | carry off by force; filling with delight (snatch, enchanting; give, boring)”…with Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design.” [Macbeth] |
prate | to talk foolishly or tediously about (babble; be quiet)”Thy very stones prate of my whereabout / And take the present horror from my time.” [Macbeth] |
knell | chime (ring, signal; NA)”Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell / That summons thee to Heaven or Hell.” [Macbeth] |
surfeit(ed) | an excessive amount of drinking; to cause someone to desire no more of something as a result of having consumed or done it to excess (oversupply, cram; lack, abstain)”The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms / Do mock their charge with snores.” [Lady Macbeth] |
infirm | feeble or weak in body or health, especially because of age (ailing; healthy)”Infirm of purpose! / Give me the daggers.” [Lady Macbeth] |
gild | to coat with gold, gold leaf, or a gold-colored substance (cover, coat; NA)”If he do bleed, / I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal / For it must seem their guilt.” [Lady Macbeth] |
incarnadine | blood red (crimson; NA)”No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red.” [Macbeth] |
multitudinous | forming a great number, copious (abundant; scarce)”No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red.” [Macbeth] |
equivocate/equivocator | to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or in order to mislead (deceive(r), phony; to tell the truth, honest person)”Faith, here’s an equivocator that could swear in both / the scales against either scale, who committed treason enough for God’s sake, yet could not equivocate / to Heaven. Oh, come in, equivocator.” [Porter] |
carouse/carousing | to drink deeply and frequently (wassail, drink; grieve, to be sober)”Faith sir, we were carousing till the second cock, and / drink, sir, is a great provoker of three things.” [Porter] |
lechery | unrestrained or excessive indulgence of sexual desire (debauchery, lust, wantonness; chastity, celibacy)”Lechery, / sir, it provokes, and unprovokes; it provokes the desire, / but it takes away the performance. Therefore, much / drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery.” [Porter] |
requite | to make repayment, retaliate, return (reciprocate, redeem; dissatisfy, refuse)”That it did sir, i’ th’ very throat on me; but I requited / him for his lie…” [Porter] |
lamentings | expressions of grief or sorrow (mourning; celebration)”Lamentings heard i’ th’ air,strange screams of death…” [Lennox] |
clamor | a loud cry, commotion (pandemonium, silence)”The obscure bird / clamored through the livelong night.” [Lennox] |
sacrilegious | the violation, desecration, or theft of something considered holy or sacred (blasphemy; respect)”Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope / The Lord’s anointed temple and stole thence / The life o’ th’ building!” [Macduff] |
anoint | to rub oil or ointment on a part of somebody’s body, usually the head or feet, as part of a religious ceremony (bless; curse)”Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope / The Lord’s anointed temple and stole thence / The life o’ th’ building!” [Macduff] |
(to) countenance | self-control; to behold or behave appropriately to (composure, response; panic, denial)”As from your graves rise up and walk like sprites / To countenance this horror! Ring the bell.” [Macduff] |
parley | a discussion or conference (conversation; silence)”What’s the business, / That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley / The sleepers of the house?” [Lady Macbeth] |
lees | the insoluble matter that settles from a liquid, especially wine (dregs; NA)”The wine of life is drawn and the mere lees / Is left this vault to brag of.” [Macbeth] |
temperate | moderate or self-restrained, not extreme in opinion (agreeable; uncontrolled)”Who can be wise, amazed, temp’rate and furious, / Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man.” [Macbeth] |
scruples | feelings of doubt or hesitation with regard to the morality or propriety of a cause (qualms; NA)”Fears and scruples shake us.” [Banquo] |
consort | to habitually associate with or agree with someone, typically with the disapproval of others (associate; avoid)”What will you do? Let’s not consort with them. / To show an unfelt sorrow is an office / Which the false man does easy. I’ll to England.” [Malcolm] |
suborn | to induce someone to commit an unlawful act (bribe; NA)”They were suborned. / Malcolm and Donalbain, the King’s two sons, / Are stol’n away and fled, which puts upon them / Suspicion of the deed.” [Macduff] |
benison | a spoken blessing (benediction; damnation)”God’s benison go with you and with those / That would make good of bad and friends of foes.” [Old Man] |
probe | to search into or examine thoroughly, question closely (explore; ignore) |
balm | ointment (salve; NA)”…sore labor’s bath, / Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course…” [Macbeth re: sleep] |
undivulged | unrevealed – as in a secret, private matter, or unknown information (undisclosed; revealed)”In the great hand of God I stand, and thence / Against the undivulged pretense I fight / Of treasonous malice.” [Banquo] |
sovereignty | the status, dominion, power, or authority of a sovereign (kingship; submission)”The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth.” [Ross] |
predecessor | something succeeded or replaced by something else (forerunner; successor)”Carried to Colmekill, / The sacred storehouse of his predecessors / And guardian of their bones.” [Macduff re: Duncan’s corpse] |
Hecate | Greek Mythology: a goddess of dark places, often associated with ghosts and stories. She is frequently identified with Artemis and Selene. |
Tarquin | Roman Prince Tarquin is known for raping the Roman matron of chastity, Lucrece. |
Beelzebub | another name for the devil/Satan |
gorgon | (1) each of the three sisters – Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa – with snakes for hair who had the power to turn anyone who looked at them to stone (2) a fierce, frightening, or repulsive woman; hag |
How many in a score? | 20 |
Macbeth Act II Vocabulary
August 26, 2019