Finnegans Wake
Ostrogoth* - an East Goth; a name given to the division of the Teutonic race of the Goths which towards the end of the 5th c. conquered Italy, and in 493, under Theodoric, established a kingdom which continued till 555.
gag - to strangle, choke
Visigoth* - a West-Goth; A member of that branch of the Gothic race which entered Roman territory towards the end of the fourth century and subsequently established a kingdom in Spain, overthrown by the Moors in 711.
partisan - supporter, adherent
math - mathematics; master - to get the better of, in any contest or struggle; to overcome or defeat.
catapelt = catapult - to hurl as from a catapult, to discharge a catapult
white boy* - a favored person, pet; agrarian association formed in 1761. in Ireland (against collection of tithes by landlords).
hoddie - a hooded gull
sod - Ireland; one who practices or commits sodomy
brood - offspring
appeal* - to call one to defend himself (as by wager of battle); to challenge.
larm - alarm; Larm (d) - noise.
appalling - frightful, horrifying
toll - payment, tax, duty
chance - that occurs or is by chance; happening to be such; casual, incidental.
cuddle* - fondle; cudgel - a short thick stick used as a weapon; a club.
cashel - the ancient circular wall found in Scotland and Ireland enclosing group of ecclesiastical buildings
air - ventilate, expose
ventilate - to shoot (someone or something) with a gun, usu. to kill. Also of a bullet: to make a hole in (something).
sprowl = sprawl - recline, lounge
fornication - sin, adultery
hath - arhaic present 3d. sing of have
finespun* - elaborated to flimsiness, excessively subtle or refined; fane - a flag, banner; span - spread.
skysign - electric display sign on top of a building
sewer - an artificial watercourse for draining marshy land and carrying off surface water into a river or the sea; an artificial channel or conduit, now usually covered and underground, for carrying off and discharging waste water and the refuse from houses and towns.
ald - old
peat - vegetable matter decomposed by water and partially carbonized by chemical change, often forming bogs or 'mosses' of large extent, whence it is dug out, and 'made' into peat.
ashes* - remains of what is burned
farce* - a dramatic work (usually short) which has for its sole object to excite laughter, something as ridiculous as a theatrical farce.
nunce = nonce; for the nonce* - for the particular purpose; for the time being.
set down - described in books, recognized
secular - worldly, temporal, profane
phoenix* - a mythical bird, of gorgeous plumage, fabled to be the only one of its kind, and to live five or six hundred years in the Arabian desert, after which it burnt itself to ashes on a funeral pile of aromatic twigs ignited by the sun and fanned by its own wings, but only to emerge from its ashes with renewed youth, to live through another cycle of years finish
Bygmester Solness (1892; The Master Builder)* - drama by Henrik Ibsen.
stuttering - that stutters
freeman - one not a slave or vassal
Maurer (d) - mason, freemason
broadway* - a wide open road or highway, as opposed to a narrow lane or byway. From the former practice of treating it as a compound, it has often come to be the proper name of a street, as the Broadway in New York.
imaginable* - capable of being imagined; conceivable.
rushlight - a candle made of the pith of various rushes dipped in grease.
messuage - a dwelling-house with its outbuildings and curtilage and the adjacent land assigned to its use; message
Joshua - old testament patriarch
Helvetic* - Helvetian (pertaining to the ancient Helvetii), Swiss; helveticus (l) - Swiss.
deuteronomy - the name or title of the fifth book of the Pentateuch, which contains a repetition, with parenetic comments, of the Decalogue, and most of the laws contained in Exodus xxi-xxiii, and xxxiv.
yeasty - cons. of yeast; turbulent, ebullient, full of vitality yesterday
sternly* - with sternness of temper, aspect, utterance, etc.; severely, harshly.
tete (fr) - head
wash; watch
feature; future
stook - to arrange in shocks took
evaporate* - to convert or turn into vapour
Jews; Genesis - the first in order of the books of the Old Testament, containing the account of the creation of the world.
exodus - a mass departure
hod - an open receptacle for carrying mortar, and sometimes bricks or stones, to supply builders at work; also the quantity carried in it, a hodful.
edifice - building
toper - one who topes or drinks a great deal; a hard drinker; a drunkard.
thorp - vilage, hamlet
pile - to heap up
supra (l) - above, beyond
pon - upon
liver - one that lives, resident, a well to do person
so and so* - an unnamed person, an indefinite phrase (= such a thing, person, number,' etc.) used in place of a more lengthy statement, or as a substitute for an expression or name not exactly remembered or not requiring to be explicitly stated.
addle - to muddle, confound, spoil; to earn by labour, gain and
liddle = little
wifie* - little wife: used as a term of endearment for a wife
ugged - horrid, loathsome had
craythur - creature
wither - shrivel, decay; with her
hond - hand (obs.)
tuck up - the action or an act of tucking someone up in bed.
part - Theatr. a rôle.
ofttime* - many times; on many occasions, or in many cases; frequently, often.
bibulous* - addicted to drinking or tippling.
mithra* - a persian god of light; mitre - a sacerdotal head-dress.
goodly - large, considerable
trowel - a tool consisting of a flat (or, less commonly, rounded) plate of metal or wood, of various shapes, attached to a short handle; used by masons, bricklayers, plasterers, and others for spreading, moulding, or smoothing mortar, cement, and the like.
grasp - a gripping or fast hold; the grip of the hand
overalls - trousers of strong material
fond - to entertain a fond or foolish affection for
multiplicable - capable of being multiplied
altitude* - height above the ground, or, strictly, above the level of the sea; height in the air.
multitude* - a great quantity of something (obs.), (pl.) great numbers, 'crowds'.
seesaw - to move up and down, alternate
nightlight* - the faint light which is perceptible during the night, a light which burns or shines during the night
liquor - alcohol
wherein* - in what, where
roundhead - round-headed (Of things which assume a rounded form towards the top or end).
staple = steeple (obs. rare.) - a tall tower; a building of great altitude in proportion to its length and breadth (obs.)
undressed* - fig. Inelegant, unkempt
upstand - to rise to a standing position
wallwort* - any of several plants that
grow on or in walls; waal = well;
wellworthy - worthy in a high degree.
skyscraper* - a high building of many stories
eyeful - visually attractive
height* - the quality of being high
originate* - to take its origin or rise, to spring