Finnegans Wake



Dublin

lamplight* - the light afforded by a lamp or lamps.;        swamp - bog, marsh.

tall - account; shape, fashion, bodily form or appearence

toll - a definite payment exacted by a king, ruler, or lord, or by the state or the local authority, by virtue of sovereignty or lordship, or in return for protection.

noddy - a stupid person, fool

convenience* - the quality of being convenient, generally: i.e. of being suitable or well adapted to the performance of some action or to the satisfying of requirements.

dig in - to work hard, to penetrate

dig out -  to take out by excavation, to excavate;      day in and day out - every day for an indefinite number of successive days.

by the skin of one's teeth* - with a very little time, space, etc. left over;     tilth - cultivation of   the soil.

the sweat of one's brow* - hard work, violent or strenuous exertion; labour, toil;      crew - a body or squad of workmen engaged upon a particular piece of work, or under one foreman or overseer.

auspice - any divine or prophetic token; esp. indication of a happy future; prosperous lead, patronage, favouring direction.

urn - to enclose in or as if in an urn, entomb                                                              earned

dread - extreme fear; deep awe or reverence; anxiety as to future events                       bread

dragon - a devilish person, a 'fiend';        dragon-volant - the old name for a gun of large calibre used in the French navy.

volant - having the wings extended as if in flight, flying

louse - a parasitic insect, infesting the human hair and skin and causing great irritation by its presence                             love

boll - the pod or a capsule of a plant

weevil - sort of beetle

amain - with all one's might, at full speed, suddenly

begad - a mild oath

worshipful - distinguished, worshipable, entitled to honour.

blue mantle* - the dress and the title of one of the four pursuivants of the English college of arms;         blush - a rosy colour or glow.

grassie - red backed parrot

fiery - burning, blazing

dismember - to divide into parts or sections

sooth - truth

whine - a low somewhat shrill protracted cry, usually expressive of pain or distress           wine

bedding - a supply of bed-clothes for one bed.

whoop - a cry of 'whoop!', or a shout or call resembling this; spec. as used in hunting, esp. at the death of the game.

deading - deadening (to become dead, to die)

usquebaugh* - whiskey

muck - the dung of cattle; contemptuously applied to money (obs.)

doornail - a large headed nail for nailing doors;     dead as a doornail - completely dead.

leisure* - time which one can spend as one pleases, free or unoccupied time.

abroad - at large; freely moving about; out of one's house or abode out in the open air, out of the home country; in or into foreign lands.

Heliopolis* - anciet city in lower Egypt

calvary - a cross with a figure of the crusified christ, experience of intense suffering, trial, ordeal; the proper name of the place where Christ was crucified.

umbrian - rel. to Ital. province Umbria;      umbra (l) - shadow.

foggy - misty; marshy, boggy

bankrupt - one hopelessly in debt; one who has lost all his means, and is without resources.

clakety clank* - sharp successive often metalic and ringing noises.

impure - unclean

mean - poor in quality, inferior; to complain, to lament for (a dead person).

tanglesome - tangled, confused

lush - soft, tender

enfranchisable - that admits of being enfranchised (to make (lands) freehold under feudal law).

better off - in better circumstances

primesign - to mark (a person) with the sign of the cross before baptism, to make a catechumen.

keld - spring, fountain                                                                                               cold

varmint - animals obnoxious to a man (lice, mice, owls, etc.)

pouch - a bag, sack, or receptacle of small or moderate size, used for various purposes, esp. for carrying small articles; a small bag in which money is carried, a purse.

bricket - a smal brick (a brick shaped block of any substance e.g. of tea).

kerchief - handkerchief

pyre - a pile of combustible material, esp. wood; a funeral pile for burning a dead body.

Homer

Brian Boru

Napoleon

Nebuchadrezzar* - the second and greatest king of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonia (reigned c. 605-c. 561 BC). He was known for his military might, the splendour of his capital, Babylon, and his important part in Jewish history.

Genghis Khan

ombre - shaded

rake - to go over with a rake, so as to make clean, smooth, etc.