Othello Vocabulary
• Directions: Record the definitions
• Add the P.O.S. as you go.
• Tips for determining parts of speech
– If the definition has the word to, as in to do
something, it is a ______.
– If the definition has the word a, an, or the in front
of it, it is likely a ______.
– If the voc. word ends with ly, it is likely an ______.
– Use the posters for the rest 
• Amiable – friendly, sociable, agreeable
• Aside – private words that a character speaks to
the audience or to other characters and that are
not supposed to be overheard by others on stage
• Beguile -- to lead by deception; to hoodwink
• Bestow -- to convey as a gift. To store
• Blank verse – iambic pentameter verse that does
not rhyme
• Boisterous – noisily turbulent, rowdy
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Clamor - a loud continuous noise
Consecrate -- to make or declare sacred
Cuckold -- a man whose wife is unfaithful
Dignity -- the quality or state of being worthy,
honored, or esteemed
• Discern -- to come to know, understand, or
recognize mentally
• Fortitude -- strength of mind that enables a
person to encounter danger or bear pain or
adversity with courage
• Free verse – poetry or verse that has NO meter or
rhyme
• Gondolier -- one who propels a Venetian
gondola (a long narrow flat-bottomed boat with a
high prow and stern used on the canals of Venice)
• Imminent -- ready to take place; especially:
hanging threateningly over one's head
• Iniquity -- gross injustice or wickedness
• Insinuate -- to introduce gradually or in a
subtle, indirect, or covert way
• Insolent -- exhibiting boldness and insult
• Interim – a hiatus, interval, or intermission
• Lascivious – lewd, lustful
• Liberal – Marked by generosity. Free and
lacking moral restraint
• Malice -- desire to cause pain, injury, or
distress to another
• Mischief -- action that annoys or irritates
• Obsequious -- marked by or exhibiting a
fawning attentiveness
• Ocular -- of or relating to the eye
• Penitent -- repentant; feeling or expressing
humble or regretful pain or sorrow for sins or
offenses
• Peril -- exposure to the risk of being injured,
destroyed, or lost; danger
• Ply – to assail or argue persistently
• Pomp – an ostentatious display
• Promulgate -- to make (as a doctrine) known
by open declaration; to proclaim
• Restitution – the act of restoring or making
good
• Ruminate – to think deeply about something
• Soliloquy – a long speech in which a character
who is usually alone on stage expresses his or her
private thoughts
• Strumpet – a prostitute or harlot
• Tinder -- something that serves to incite or
inflame
• Vex – to make someone feel annoyed, frustrated
or worried
• Woo -- to solicit or entreat. To court a woman
• Wretch -- a miserable person: one who is
profoundly unhappy or in great misfortune. In
Othello it’s an informal term of endearment
Archaic words from Othello
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Thee / Thou = you
Thy / Thine = your / yours
Thus = therefore, for example
Ay / Aye = yes
Nay = no
Ho = Used to express surprise or joy, to attract
attention to something sighted “Land ho!”, or
to urge onward.
Archaic words from Othello
• Ere = before
• Dost = do (you)
• Fie = exclamation used to express disgust or
outrage:
• Troth = truth, faith, or loyalty