British Literature
Vocabulary
Unit 1
ecclesiastical
• Having to do with the church
precept
• Commandment or direction meant as a rule of
action or conduct
temporal
• Lasting only for a short time, limited; of this
world, not spiritual
adversity
• Misfortune, trouble
diligently
• With great care and attention
efficacious
• Effective, producing the desired result
agency
• Force or power
secular
• Of the world; not sacred
literal
• Word for word, true to the actual or original
meaning
allegory
• A work in which each element symbolizes, or
represent, something else
caesura
• Major pause, or breath place, in a line of
poetry
alliteration
• Repetition of initial consonant sounds
• (ex. seven silver swans)
hyperbole
• Deliberate exaggeration for effect
metaphor
• Comparison in which one thing is said to be
another (ex. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend!)
simile
• Comparison using like or as
• (ex. My love is like a red, red rose.)
tribute
• Regular payment of money or goods made by
one ruler or nation to another in
acknowledgement of servitude or for
protection from invasion.
spoils
• Arms, goods, or money taken from a defeated
foe
brood
• Offspring or a family of offspring of
animals
Purge
• Cleanse or rid of impurities or other
undesirable elements
Relish
• Enjoy; like