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 |
|---|---|
| prevalescence | obsolete, a growing prevalence |
| prevalescent | obsolete, growing prevalent |
| prevenant | archaic, anticipating; prevenient (of grace) |
| previdence | obsolete, foresight (L. praevidentia) |
| prevoyance | obsolete, foresight (F. prévoyance) |
| prickado | obsolete, a thrust or stab |
| priestshire | obsolete, the priest's office or parish |
| primices | obsolete, first-fruits (OF primices) |
| primigene | obsolete, primitive, first-formed |
| primigenian | obsolete, first-born, primeval |
| prisable | obsolete, valuable, to be prized |
| prisal | obsolete, a taking, capture, or prize |
| prittle | obsolete, idle chatter, as in prittle-prattle |
| privacity | obsolete, privacy |
| proach | obsolete, aphetic form of approach |
| probatical | obs., of sheep; of the Probatic pool |
| proculcate | obs., to trample down (L. proculcare) |
| proculcation | obs., a trampling under foot |
| profugate | obs., to drive away (L. profugare) |
| progenity | obs., progeny, descent |
| progrede | obs., to go forward, advance |
| proheim | obs. form of proem, a preface |
| projacient | obs., lying or thrown forward |
| prolify | obs./rare, to make prolific |
| promeritor | obs., one who merits or deserves well |
| promiss | obsolete spelling of promise |
| propitial | propitiatory, favourable |
| propriation | a making one's own, appropriation |
| propriatory | appropriating; proprietary |
| proreption | a creeping forward, surreption |
| prorump | to break or burst forth (L. prorumpere) |
| prosapy | lineage, stock, family (L. prosapia) |
| prosar | book of liturgical proses or sequences |
| proscind | to cut off, plough up (L. proscindere) |
| prosemination | propagation, dissemination |
| prostern | to prostrate, throw down (F. prosterner) |
| proxenete | a broker or marriage-negotiator |
| psilology | 19c coinage, empty talk, love of mere words |
| psilosophy | 19c coinage, shallow or empty philosophy |
| pucellage | virginity (from French pucelage) |
| puckfoist | a puffball fungus; a term of contempt |
| puckrel | a little puck, a witch's imp |
| pulicate | a checked cotton handkerchief from Pulicat |
| puliol | Middle English, pennyroyal |
| pullaile | Middle English, poultry |
| pullisee | obsolete form of pulley |
| pulment | pottage, porridge (Latin pulmentum) |
| pulpatone | a pie of forcemeat, pulpatoon |
| pulverin | pulverine, barilla ash used in glassmaking |
| pundigrion | a pun or quibble |
| punicial | of a crimson or purple-red colour |
| punketto | a little punk, a young harlot |
| purpense | law, premeditation, as in malice purpensed |
| purprision | law, purpresture, encroachment on public land |
| purpurean | purple, of purple colour |
| purpureous | purple in colour |
| pushwainling | a wheelbarrow or push-cart |
| pusill | petty, small (Latin pusillus) |
| pyrewinkes | Scots, thumbscrews, pilliwinks |
| quadrupedan | going on four feet |
| quaife | old spelling of coif, a close cap |
| quaintise | cunning, craft, elegance |
| quardeel | a cask of fixed size, Dutch kwarteel |
| quatrible | old music, the part sung a fourth above |
| quaviver | old name for the weever fish |
| quease | to squeeze or press |
| quedful | evil, wicked, from ME qued, evil |
| quedly | wickedly |
| quedness | wickedness |
| quedship | wickedness, villainy |
| queintise | cunning, craft, elegance |
| quelme | to kill or quell, ME cwelman |
| quentise | cunning, craft, variant of queintise |
| quillity | a quibble or subtlety |
| quisquiliary | consisting of refuse or rubbish |
| quistron | a beggar or scullion |
| quitantie | quittance, release |
| quotennial | occurring yearly, L. quotannis |
| rabinet | a small 16th-century cannon |
| radevore | Chaucer, a kind of tapestry cloth |
| radly | quickly, promptly |
| rampallion | a ruffian or scoundrel |
| rangale | Middle English, the rabble, a common herd |
| rantize | to baptize by sprinkling (Greek rhantizein) |
| rapely | Middle English, hastily (from rape, haste) |
| rassasy | to satiate or satisfy (French rassasier) |
| rathely | archaic, quickly or early (from rathe) |
| rationate | to reason (Latin ratiocinari) |
| ratiuncle | a petty reason (Latin ratiuncula) |
| ravery | raving, delirium |
| ravinate | given to ravin, rapacious |
| reaute | Middle English, royalty or sovereignty |
| recche | Middle English, to reck, to care |
| receptitious | Roman law, reserved or taken back, as a dowry |
| recipiend | one who is to receive (Latin recipiendus) |
| recipiendary | one formally received into a society |
| recommand | to recommend (French recommander) |
| recour | archaic, recovery or recourse |
| redely | ME redely, readily or promptly |
| redesman | obs., an arbitrator; rede (counsel) + man |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
