Essays of Francis Bacon
The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, of Francis Ld. Verulam Viscount St. Albans

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Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

A Glossary of Archaic Words and Phrases

Abridgment: miniature
Absurd: stupid, unpolished
Abuse: cheat, deceive
Aculeate: stinging
Adamant: loadstone
Adust: scorched
Advoutress: adulteress
Affect: like, desire
Antic: clown
Appose: question
Arietation: battering-ram
Audit: revenue
Avoidance: secret outlet
Battle: battalion
Bestow: settle in life
Blanch: flatter, evade
Brave: boastful
Bravery: boast, ostentation
Broke: deal in brokerage
Broken: shine by comparison
Broken music: part music
Cabinet: secret
Calendar: weather forecast
Card: chart, map
Care not to: are reckless
Cast: plan
Cat: cate, cake
Charge and adventure: cost and risk
Check with: interfere
Chop: bandy words
Civil: peaceful
Close: secret, secretive
Collect: infer
Compound: compromise
Consent: agreement
Curious: elaborate
Custom: import duties
Deceive: rob
Derive: divert
Difficileness: moroseness
Discover: reveal
Donative: money gift
Doubt: fear
Equipollent: equally powerful
Espial: spy
Estate: state
Facility: of easy persuasion
Fair: rather
Fame: rumor
Favor: feature
Flashy: insipid
Foot-pace: lobby
Foreseen: guarded against
Froward: stubborn
Futile: babbling
Globe: complete body
Glorious: showy, boastful
Humorous: capricious
Hundred poll: hundredth head
Impertinent: irrelevant
Implicit: entangled
In a mean: in moderation
In smother: suppressed
Indifferent: impartial
Intend: attend to
Knap: knoll
Leese: lose
Let: hinder
Loose: shot
Lot: spell
Lurch: intercept
Make: profit, get
Manage: train
Mate: conquer
Material: business-like
Mere-stone: boundary stone
Muniting: fortifying
Nerve: sinew
Obnoxious: subservient, liable
Oes: round spangles
Pair: impair
Pardon: allowance
Passable: mediocre
Pine-apple-tree: pine
Plantation: colony
Platform: plan
Plausible: praiseworthy
Point device: excessively precise
Politic: politician
Poll: extort
Poser: examiner
Practice: plotting
Preoccupate: anticipate
Prest: prepared
Prick: plant
Proper: personal
Prospective: stereoscope
Proyne: prune
Purprise: enclosure
Push: pimple
Quarrel: pretext
Quech: flinch
Reason: principle
Recamera: retiring-room
Return: reaction
Return: wing running back
Rise: dignity
Round: straight
Save: account for
Scantling: measure
Seel: blind
Shrewd: mischievous
Sort: associate
Spial: spy
Staddle: sapling
Steal: do secretly
Stirp: family
Stond: stop, stand
Stoved: hot-housed
Style: title
Success: outcome
Sumptuary law: law against extravagance
Superior globe: the heavens
Temper: proportion
Tendering: nursing
Tract: line, trait
Travel: travail, labor
Treaties: treatises
Trench to: touch
Trivial: common
Turquet: Turkish dwarf
Under foot: below value
Unready: untrained
Usury: interest
Value: certify
Virtuous: able
Votary: vowed
Wanton: spoiled
Wood: maze
Work: manage, utilize

 

Preface  •  Of Truth  •  Of Death  •  Of Unity  •  Of Revenge  •  Of Adversity  •  Of Simulation and Dissimulation  •  Of Parents  •  Of Marriage  •  Of Envy  •  Of Love  •  Of Great Place  •  Of Boldness  •  Of Goodness & Goodness of Nature  •  Of Nobility  •  Of Seditions  •  Of Atheism  •  Of Superstition  •  Of Travel  •  Of Empire  •  Of Counsel  •  Of Delays  •  Of Cunning  •  Of Wisdom Fo a Man’s Self  •  Of Innovations  •  Of Dispatch  •  Of Friendship  •  Of Expense  •  Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates  •  Of Regiment  •  Of Health  •  Of Suspicion  •  Of Discourse  •  Of Plantations  •  Of Riches  •  Of Prophecies  •  Of Ambition  •  Of Masques  •  Of Nature  •  Of Custom  •  Of Fortune  •  Of Usury  •  Of Beauty  •  Of Deformity  •  Of Building  •  Of Gardens  •  Of Negotiating  •  Of Followers and Friends  •  Of Suitors  •  Of Studies  •  Of Faction  •  Of Ceremonies and Respects  •  Of Praise  •  Of Vain-glory  •  Of Honor and Reputation  •  Of Judicature  •  Of Anger  •  Of Vicissitude of Things  •  Of Fame  •    •