Glossary (words starting with U)
uch
inarticulate noise expressing disgust or disbelief (comparable with the Scottish 'och')
Uds precious
God's precious blood
umh
inarticulate sound indicating doubt, hesitation or dissatisfaction
Un'ch
some kind of phonetic utterance; MacLeod glosses as 'a very little bit' but I cannot find any support for this definition
unadvisedness
imprudent, rash
unadvisedness
imprudence, rashness
unavailable
ineffectual, unavailing
unavoidably
inevitably
uncapable of
disqualified from
uncivil
crude, unseemly
unconscionable
uncontrolled by conscience; harsh
uncourtly
unrefined; unlike Court habits
uncouth
uncertain; strange; distasteful (OED adj. 1, 2 and 3)
undeniable
indisputable
under
below (in rank)
under a hedge
clandestinely and illegitimately, as a third-rate imitation of the real thing
underbuyings
buying commodities or land more cheaply than their true value (for instance, someone who needs to settle a debt in a hurry might take a lower price for his land because he needs the money quickly)
underreach
'To entrap or defraud by stealth' (OED v. 2; Mad Couple is the only text cited as example)
understand
"to know one's place" and how "to conduct oneself properly"; "to be in possession of one's senses or faculties"
undertake
to take in hand, take on a case (but often as here with the additional sense of making a pledge or promise)
undertake
take on, deal with; punning on (a) take in charge; to accept the duty of attending to or looking after (OED 5); and (b) take on, sexually
undertake
OED (vI, 1b) records a now obsolete meaning: 'to reprove, rebuke, chide' which could carry the sense also of 'instruct'
undertaker
helper
undertaker
assistant or helper; one who undertakes a task
undertaking
enterprise; copulation (Williams, 3: 1457)
undertook
committed oneself to an enterprise, entered into a compact with, made oneself answerable for (another person) (OED undertake v, 8, 9 and 10)
undeservings
unworthiness (usage is rare, but this is not a Brome coinage: see OED)
undid
ruined
undoes
ruins
undoing
bringing about destruction or ruin (to be 'undone')
undone
ruined, destroyed
unexampled
unprecedented
unfeigned
not pretended, genuine, true
unfeignedly
sincerely; without pretence
unfit
unsuitable (as friends or companions)
unfold
disclosed
unfold
explain, make clear
unfruitful
barren (of spirit or mind), incapable of learning or returning benefits, unprofitable (as an investment)
unfurnished
unprovided
ungentle
discourteous
unguentum album
white salve or ointment
unhallowed
unholy
unhandsomeness
unattractive or unseemly clothing
unhappily
unfortunately, unluckily
unhappy
disastrous, associated with or causing misfortune (OED adj. 3)
unhappy
(1) causing misfortune or trouble; (2) unlucky or ill-fated; (3) mischievous; evil; naughty (obsolete; OED adj. 1a, 2a and 5)
universi
all men
unkennel
bring out into open ground
unkind
undutiful, ungrateful
unknown
strange, unfamiliar, and, with a sense of reprobation, 'uncouth', alien and distasteful
unknown
strange, unfamiliar
unlass
unless: Dryground’s song seems to require him to sing with an accent, so I’ve retained the octavo’s spelling (unlasse) here
unlawful
illegal; morally prohibited
unless
lest (OED conj, 4a, a sense for which the latest example given is 1592)
unmuffled
stripped of her disguise
unmurthered
not murdered
unnatural
abnormal, monstrous (OED adj. 2b)
unnatural
not in accordance or conformity with the physical nature of persons (OED adj. 1)
unneglected
not ignored
unprovided of
impotent, incapable of having a penile erection
unquoth
unquoth probably means hitherto unspoken
unrecoverably
irrecoverably
unregarded
unseen, without being looked at
unrighteously
unjustly, wrongfully (OED)
unsettled
unfixed
unshaken
secure
unshale
disclose, reveal
unsight and unseen
without inspection or examination
unstained
pure, not morally sullied, harmed or compromised
unsuitable
unsuited, unfitting
until
unto; against (in the 1630s both may have been associated with Scots or Northern English speech) (OED prep, 1)
unto
‘Indicating a condition, state, or situation, conferred or imposed upon a person’ (OED prep, 9); ‘denoting attachment, union, adherence, or kinship to a person’ (OED prep, 15a)
untoward
intractable, unruly, perverse (a close synonym for wayward) (OED 2a)
untoward
inept, slow (OED 1b); or intractable, unruly, perverse (a close synonym for wayward) (OED 2a)
untowardly
badly, unfortunately
untruss
to undo the fastenings of a garment
untunable
lacking both tune and harmony, cacaphonous, discordant (as distinct from the celestial music of the spheres, indicative of divine harmony)
untuneable
utterly discordant, cacaphonous
unvaluable
of inestimable value, of incalculable worth
unwarrantable
licentious, loose, illicit, louche
unwontedness
being unaccustomed
up
agitated, roused, angry (OED adv. II. 16d); but there is also a further sense here, drawing on idiomatic phrases such as "All's up": (you are) caught, trapped
up
agitated, roused, angry (OED adv. II 16d); but there is also a further sense here, drawing on idiomatic phrases such as "All's up": (you are) caught, trapped
up to the hilts
to the furthest degree possible (OED hilt n, 3)
upbraid
reproach, find fault with
upbraided
reproached, found fault with
upbraidings
reproaches; censure
uphold
maintain at the same level (OED v. 2c); support in the face of criticism (OED v. 4)
upon
engaged in; ‘at the point of; close on, touching on’ (OED upon prep. 6d)
upon
towards (OED upon prep, 20); concerning (upon prep. 22)
upon
‘At the point of; close on, touching on’ (OED prep. 6d); ‘Unto, to (a person): in reference to ... marriage’ (OED prep. 18)
upper (world)
northern (hemisphere)
upper-body
the clothing of the chest and shoulders
upright
of unbending integrity or rectitude; morally just
upright
honourable, honest
upright-man
big, strong, or sturdy vagrant, one trained as a husbandsman but who chooses to beg or thieve rather than work
upset
to restore to good or usual condition (OED I 2b, citing The City Wit 3.1.); to set up
upsitting
occasion of a woman's first sitting up to receive company after having given birth
upstart
newcomer to high rank, parvenu, social climber
upwards
facing upwards, lying on one's back (OED, upward, C. 1)
upwards
(grow) upwards: swelling of the belly in pregnancy
upwards
elevated (in height)
urbanity
civility
urge
push forward; urgently remind of
urinal
a glass vessel or phial employed to receive urine for medical examination or inspection (OED n. 1)
usage
treatment (OED n. 7)
use
treat, deal with
use
treat, with implication of treat harshly
use
make, practise, employ
use
advantageous use (i.e. as a moral lesson), with a pun on ‘use’ meaning the money lent out by usurers
use
have sex with
use
(n) employment, application (OED n. 1); habit, practice (OED n. 8); purpose (OED n. 16a); benefit, usefulness (use, n, 20a)
use
interest, usury (OED v. 5b)
use
make it a custom to
use to
usually, habitually
used
treated
USHER
male attendant upon a lady (OED usher n, 2a)
USHER
servant who has charge of the door and admits people to a hall or chamber; a door-keeper (OED 1)
usual
ordinary (OED adj. 3a)
usurer
moneylender
usurped
seized, possessed unjustly (OED ppl. 1)
utters
discloses, shows
uxorious
fond of a wife, often pejorative, meaning fond to excess