Real Words Without Definition
This one is a judgement call.
Old English that fell out of use and got dropped from later dictionaries.
abush is an old form of ambush. absee was the alphabet. abiston was a name for asbestos. abbroachment was the offence of buying wholesale to sell on at retail.
These were normal words with normal definitions. People stopped using them and the dictionaries stopped carrying them.
2,710 words · sorted A to Z · each with a line on why it is here
Matches the word itself, not the note beside it. Case does not matter.
| Word, sorted Z to A | What it meant |
|---|---|
| scrime | to fence, from Old French escrimir |
| scriniary | a keeper of records or archives |
| scriptitory | rare, pertaining to writing |
| scrithe | to go, glide, move |
| scrivaille | scribbling; scribblers collectively |
| scrutatory | searching, of or for scrutiny |
| scusation | an excuse, aphetic form of excusation |
| seafardinger | obs., a seafaring man, a sailor |
| secable | obs., capable of being cut, divisible |
| sejugate | obs., to separate or disjoin (L. sejugare) |
| seling | obs., seeling, the ceiling or lining of a room |
| semiferous | half-wild, half-brutish; from Latin semifer |
| semisoun | Middle English, a half sound, a murmur |
| senage | money paid to a bishop at a synod, synodals |
| sentition | the act or exercise of perceiving |
| septennary | a period of seven years, septenary |
| septentrionate | to point or tend toward the north |
| septier | an old measure of capacity, the setier |
| seriaunt | Middle English spelling of sergeant |
| serpivolant | a fabulous flying serpent |
| servitial | pertaining to service or servitude |
| shabroon | slang, a shabby or disreputable fellow |
| shackatory | a hound |
| shauwe | early spelling of shaw, a thicket |
| shawfowl | a dummy bird set up by fowlers as a mark |
| shendful | shameful, ruinous, from shend |
| sheveled | dishevelled |
| shipferd | a fleet or naval levy, Old English scipfyrd |
| shiprade | a naval expedition, Old English scipraed |
| shirewick | the district or jurisdiction of a shire |
| sibrede | kinship, relationship (sib + -rede) |
| sicarious | murderous, of an assassin (Latin sicarius) |
| siest | archaic thou siest, second person of sie (to see) |
| signacle | obsolete, a sign, token or seal |
| signance | obsolete, a marking or signification |
| sikerly | Middle English, surely, certainly |
| silksman | obsolete, a dealer in silks |
| simplicist | obsolete, a dealer in medicinal simples |
| sipers | obsolete, cypress, a light fabric |
| sipidity | obsolete, savouriness, the opposite of insipidity |
| sistence | obsolete, subsistence, standing |
| sistency | obsolete, the state of subsisting |
| sisterin | obsolete plural of sister, sisteren |
| sithement | obsolete, compensation for injury, assythment |
| sixhaend | Old English law, a man of 600-shilling wergild |
| sizeman | obsolete, one having charge of sizes or measures |
| skere | Middle English, clear or pure, sheer |
| skers | Middle English, scarce |
| skirwort | old name for the skirret, Sium sisarum |
| skrupul | old spelling of scruple |
| skyrgaliard | a frisky, swaggering fellow |
| slingsman | archaic, a slinger |
| snuffkin | obsolete, a woman's small muff |
| soget | Middle English, subject |
| sokemanemot | old English law, the court or moot of the sokemen |
| solsticion | obsolete form of solstition, the solstice |
| somdiel | Middle English, somewhat; variant of somdel |
| somepart | archaic, in some part, partly |
| sompne | Middle English, to summon |
| sompner | Middle English, a summoner or apparitor |
| sonable | obsolete, sounding, capable of being sounded |
| soning | Middle English, sounding, from sonen, to sound |
| sorcer | obsolete, a sorcerer |
| sortiary | obsolete, pertaining to divination by lots |
| souldie | obsolete, a soldier's pay, or a mercenary |
| sparage | old name for asparagus (sperage) |
| sparm | obsolete form of sperm, as in sparmaceti |
| sparple | to scatter, disperse |
| spatling | old plant name element, as in spatling poppy |
| spattee | a long gaiter or spatterdash worn by women |
| speedly | archaic adverb, speedily |
| speelken | old cant, a playhouse or theatre |
| spellken | old cant, a playhouse or theatre |
| sperity | aphetic form of asperity |
| sphalm | a slip or error (Greek sphalma) |
| spheterize | to make one's own, appropriate |
| spicilege | a gleaning or anthology (spicilegium) |
| spintry | a male prostitute (Latin spintria) |
| spirital | spiritual |
| spissy | thick, dense |
| spitous | spiteful, cruel |
| spondil | obsolete form of spondyl, a vertebra |
| spoorn | old name for a spectre or hobgoblin |
| sportance | archaic, sport or play (Spenser) |
| sprighty | obsolete form of sprightly |
| sprindge | obsolete form of springe, a snare |
| sprusado | archaic, a spruce fellow or dandy |
| squeam | archaic, a qualm; to feel squeamish |
| squeamy | obsolete, squeamish |
| squillery | obsolete form of scullery |
| squinant | old name for camel's hay (squinanth) |
| staboy | old cry used to urge on a dog |
| staccado | obsolete, a stockade |
| stagiary | old law, a resident canon or probationer |
| stallenger | old term, a market stallholder |
| stallment | obsolete, an instalment |
| standelwelks | old herbal name for the early purple orchis |
| standelwort | old herbal name for the orchis |
| statelich | Middle English, stately |
| stauracin | a Byzantine silk figured with crosses |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
