Jane Eyre (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by Charlotte Bronte

  es Old woman.

  et A tinker, one who mends and sells pots and pans; beggar.

  eu soldiers chosen to lead an attack.

  ev Soldiers in the front position.

  ew The appropriate thing to do.

  ex The Devil.

  ey Prophetess.

  ez Tangled hair.

  fa Laughed snickeringly (dialect).

  fb Devilry.

  fc Dark-skinned.

  fd Nonsensical chatter.

  fe Age (poetic usage, and archaic).

  ff Bed curtain.

  fg Mysterious.

  fh Spell.

  fi An airy spirit.

  fj Gate.

  fk “Cairngorm” is a smoky-brown or topaz-yellow rock crystal, though the reference here is possibly to eyes that are hard and bright like the stone.

  fl An odd person (now rare).

  fm Imaginary.

  fn A clock with a chime or bell to awaken a sleeper.

  fo Written directions for the conduct of a divine service.

  fp Tough and dry.

  fq Swallowing.

  fr A hired coach.

  fs A queen of early Britain who led a revolt against the Romans.

  ft A love potion.

  fu “Good evening.”

  fv “Ready to devour her little English mama.” See croquant, p. 161.

  fw Ladybug.

  fx To bring over to one’s side by strong persuasion.

  fy Without Miss Eyre.

  fz “Oh, she’ll be uncomfortable there!”

  ga A real liar.

  gb Fairy tales.

  gc “Furthermore, there were no fairies, and even if there were some ...”

  gd In this context, a section of a theater where bejeweled ladies sit.

  ge A princess whom Zeus seduced as a shower of gold.

  gf A Turkish pasha of high rank; the number of tails—horsetails—hung on the pasha’s standard indicates his rank.

  gg “Steady me.”

  gh Lose; ruin.

  gi Deo volente (Latin), “God willing.”

  gj Clothes-rack.

  gk Hypochondria is a morbid mental condition characterized by melancholy or anxiety with no external cause.

  gl A kind of lace.

  gm In sympathy with democratic rather than monarchic ideas.

  gn Ravenous (rare).

  go A person born in the West Indies, but the term could also imply mixed racial ancestry.

  gp An agent of the Mason family in Funchal, capital of Madeira.

  gq The reference is to a wasting disease, often consumption.

  gr Wretchedly lonely.

  gs Muddy swamp.

  gt A mythical tree capable of killing all life around it.

  gu In this context, breeding, ancestry.

  gv Here, “intemperate” could refer to an overly passionate, violent temperament, or specifically to excessive use of alcohol.

  gw A sudden, fleeting appearance; see ignis fatuus, page 184.

  gx Countesses.

  gy Messalina, known for excessive greed and lust, was the wife of the Roman emperor Claudius; “Indian” refers to Bertha’s Creole ancestry.

  gz A variation of the word grip.

  ha A seamstress who does simple sewing, as opposed to fancy work (and consequently is paid much less for her labors).

  hb Inflated, lofty language.

  hc “Then there stepped forth one, in appearance like the starry sky.... I weight thoughts in the scale of my anger, and deeds with the weight of my wrath!” The quotation is from [Johann Christoph] Friedrich von Schiller’s The Robbers, act V, scene 1.

  hd Rigid in death.

  he Afoot.

  hf Bickered.

  hg Vigorous, strong.

  hh “Election” and “reprobation” refer to God’s predetermination of salvation and damnation.

  hi Suitable.

  hj Glazed earthenware from Delft, in Holland.

  hk Britain.

  hl In Persian myth, a kind of beautiful fairy.

  hm A freak or jest of nature.

  hn Pity.

  ho That is, adherents of “natural religion,” who believe in a Supreme Being but reject other supernatural doctrines of Christianity.

  hp A variety of rose, and the literal meaning of the name Rosamond.

  hq “Who will benefit?”; used colloquially to mean “What is the point?”

  hr A kind of leather.

  hs “Paysannes” and “Bauerinnen”: French and German women of the peasant class, respectively.

  ht Or Kaffir; used popularly for African, and not always as a pejorative.

  hu Unseemly, unsuitable (dialect).

  hv Dying.

  hw Topmost part.

  hx Put to the test.

  hy Assistant.

  hz A priest in charge of sacred mysteries.

  ia Furiously.

  ib Paid.

  ic Carelessness.

  id Opposite ends of the earth.

  ie Woods containing game.

  if A grassy plot.

  ig A country house with farm buildings.

  ih Lonely (northern English dialect).

  ii A lame person.

  ij Are something like.

  ik A spirit with a shaggy appearance.

  il Tidied, put in order (dialect).

  im “Still young.”

  in Laced ankle boots, worn in the country and therefore unfashionable.

  io The strong but lame and ugly Roman god of volcanoes and destructive fire, also identified with the Greek god Hephaestus, husband of Aphrodite.

  ip Neck (slang).

  iq Probably dialect pronunciation of “not foul [northern British dialect for ugly]”; some editors prefer “no fool.”