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 |
|---|---|
| cherte | obs., dearness, affection (ME cherte) |
| chessom | obs., mellow friable soil (Bacon) |
| chesteine | obs., the chestnut tree |
| chetive | obs., wretched, captive (ME chetif) |
| chevachee | obs., a cavalry raid (F. chevauchee) |
| chevance | obs., property, resources, gain |
| chevise | obs., to accomplish, provide for |
| chiefty | obs., chiefship, headship, authority |
| chierete | obs., dearness, affection (ME chierete) |
| chiliomb | obs., a sacrifice of a thousand victims |
| chirotonsor | obs./jocular, a barber (L. hand-shaver) |
| chirotonsory | obs./jocular, the barber's trade |
| chiurm | obs., a crew of galley slaves (It. ciurma) |
| chivachee | obs., a cavalry raid (F. chevauchee) |
| chivage | obs., chevage, a poll or head tax |
| christenhead | Christendom, Christianity |
| churrip | imitative, to chirp or churr |
| circumplect | to clasp or fold about |
| circumviate | to travel round about |
| circumvoisin | lying round about, neighbouring |
| citrul | a gourd or watermelon |
| civilite | civility, Middle English spelling |
| cizar | old spelling of scissar, scissors |
| clamative | obsolete, clamorous, noisy |
| clapholt | obsolete, split oak staves, clapboard wood |
| clarigate | obsolete, to demand redress before war |
| clarigold | obsolete, a form of clavichord (claricord) |
| clarina | obsolete, a 19th-c. reed wind instrument |
| clarine | obsolete, a small bell hung on cattle |
| clavicithern | obsolete, keyed cittern, clavicytherium |
| clavicittern | obsolete, keyed cittern |
| claviole | obsolete, an early keyed instrument |
| cledde | obsolete form of clad, clothed |
| clergess | obsolete, a woman in holy orders |
| clergion | obsolete, a young clerk or chorister |
| climactery | obsolete, a climacteric period of life |
| climath | obsolete spelling of climate |
| clithe | obsolete, the burdock (OE clithe) |
| clodder | obsolete, to clot or coagulate |
| clogdogdo | obsolete, a nuisance or encumbrance |
| clomben | obsolete past participle of climb (Chaucer) |
| clumpst | archaic 2nd sing., thou clumpst (clump) |
| cluppe | Middle English, to embrace, clip |
| coaxation | obsolete, the croaking of frogs |
| coccionella | obsolete Latin name for cochineal |
| cockalan | obsolete, a nonsense tale (Fr. coq-a-l'ane) |
| cockloche | obsolete, a fool or coxcomb |
| cocle | obsolete spelling of cockle |
| cocowort | old plant name, shepherd's purse |
| coct | to boil, cook, digest (L. coquere) |
| codiniac | a conserve of quinces (cotignac) |
| coelicolist | a worshipper of heaven, Coelicola |
| coempt | to buy up jointly (L. coemere) |
| coenaculous | pertaining to supper or the dining-room |
| cohibitive | restraining, checking |
| cohibitor | one who restrains or checks |
| cohob | alchemy, to redistil, cohobate |
| cohortation | exhortation, encouragement |
| coigny | Irish, exaction of food and lodging for soldiers |
| cointise | Old French, cunning, craft, elegance (quaintise) |
| colament | that which is strained off, a filtrate |
| colaphize | to buffet, strike with the fist |
| coldfinch | old name for the pied flycatcher |
| colfox | Chaucer's col-fox, a crafty black-marked fox |
| colibert | a medieval half-free tenant |
| coling | obs. form of colling, embracing |
| collaudation | joint praise, commendation |
| collution | a washing or rinsing, esp. of the mouth |
| collyrie | an eye-salve or eye-wash, collyrium |
| coloppe | a collop, a slice of meat |
| comart | Shakespearean, a covenant or bargain |
| combind | obs. spelling of combine |
| combre | obs. form of cumber, to encumber |
| combwright | a maker of combs |
| comeddle | to mix together, commingle |
| comestion | a consuming or eating up |
| comfortation | the act of comforting |
| commark | a boundary or frontier district |
| commassation | obsolete, a heaping together into a mass |
| commodation | obsolete, a lending or adapting |
| commoigne | Middle English, a fellow monk |
| commonance | obsolete, the commonalty, commoners |
| commonefaction | obsolete, act of reminding, admonition |
| commoney | schoolboy slang, a common clay marble |
| companable | Middle English, companionable |
| companage | obsolete, food eaten with bread |
| comparcioner | law, coparcener, a joint heir |
| comparition | law, appearance before a court |
| compassive | obsolete, compassionate, suffering with |
| compatience | obsolete, fellow-suffering, sympathy |
| compendent | obsolete, hanging together |
| complant | obsolete, to plant together |
| compregnate | obsolete, to impregnate thoroughly |
| conable | Middle English, suitable, fitting |
| conand | Middle English cunnand, knowing, skilful |
| concatervate | obsolete, to heap together in crowds |
| concentive | obsolete, harmonious (from concent) |
| conchyle | obsolete, a shell or shellfish |
| concional | obsolete, of a sermon or public assembly |
| concionary | obsolete, of preaching or assembly |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
