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 |
|---|---|
| concrew | obsolete (Spenser), to grow together |
| concubitant | obsolete, lying together, cohabiting |
| conculcation | obsolete, a trampling underfoot |
| concumbency | obsolete, act of lying together |
| concupy | Shakespearean clipping of concupiscence |
| condecent | obsolete, becoming, seemly |
| condog | obsolete jocular, to agree (pun on concur) |
| condue | Middle English, to conduct or lead |
| confisk | obsolete, to confiscate |
| confract | obsolete, broken in pieces |
| confrication | obsolete, a rubbing together |
| congenator | obsolete, one of the same kind, a congener |
| congeon | Middle English, a dwarf or changeling |
| conjobble | obsolete colloquial, to settle or arrange |
| conquisition | obsolete, a search or levy |
| conred | Middle English, provision, entertainment |
| consence | Middle English, consent, assent |
| consiliary | obsolete, of counsel or a councillor |
| conspectuity | Shakespearean, the faculty of seeing |
| contect | obsolete, to cover over |
| contection | obsolete, a covering |
| contek | Middle English, strife or contention |
| conteke | Middle English contek, strife |
| contise | Middle English cointise, elegance or cunning |
| contune | obsolete form of continue |
| conuzee | law, cognizee, one to whom a fine is levied |
| convally | the lily of the valley |
| convell | to pluck up, overthrow |
| convertise | conversion |
| conveth | old Scots law, tribute due to a superior |
| conynge | Middle English form of cony, a rabbit |
| copart | to share in, take part with |
| copataine | high-crowned, said of a hat |
| copesman | a chapman, dealer, or partner |
| corbed | crooked, bent (Spenser) |
| cordewane | cordwain, Cordovan leather |
| coronize | to crown |
| corosif | old form of corrosive |
| corporeous | corporeal, bodily |
| corrober | to strengthen, corroborate |
| corsaint | the body of a saint, a relic |
| corsesque | a three-bladed polearm, a corseque |
| corteise | Middle English form of courteous |
| corviser | a shoemaker, cordwainer |
| corvisor | old form of corviser, a shoemaker |
| coscet | a cottager, the Domesday cotset |
| costious | Middle English, costly or expensive |
| costlew | Middle English costlewe, costly, sumptuous |
| cotemporane | contemporaneous, of the same time |
| cotemporanean | contemporaneous, living at the same time |
| cotset | feudal cottager holding a cot (cotsetla) |
| cotsetland | land held by a cotset or cottager |
| counterband | old form of contraband |
| counterpointe | counterpointe, a quilted coverlet, counterpane |
| countreeman | old spelling of countryman |
| countrieman | old spelling of countryman |
| couthe | Middle English couthe, knew or could |
| covenance | Old French covenance, an agreement |
| coxbones | minced oath, "God's bones" |
| coynye | coyne, the old Irish billeting exaction |
| coyure | coyness, reserve |
| criance | Middle English, belief or faith (cf. creance) |
| cricke | old spelling of crick, a muscular cramp |
| critism | obsolete syncopated form of criticism |
| critize | obsolete syncopated form of criticize |
| crociary | the monk who bore the crozier |
| croisad | old form of crusade |
| croisard | a crusader, one signed with the cross |
| cromster | a small Dutch warship of the 1500s |
| crotesco | old form of grotesque |
| crottels | hunting term, deer or hare droppings |
| crouchback | a hunchback |
| crucethouse | a medieval torture chamber |
| crudelity | cruelty (Latin crudelitas) |
| cruent | bloody (Latin cruentus) |
| crustade | a medieval pie or custard |
| cubatory | recumbent, given to lying down |
| cubiculary | of a bedchamber; a chamberlain |
| cucupha | medicated cap of aromatic herbs |
| cucurb | a cucurbit, gourd-shaped still |
| cuissen | cuisses, armor for the thighs |
| cullisance | corruption of cognizance, a badge |
| culpon | a shred or slice (Chaucer's colpon) |
| cunningaire | a rabbit-warren (coninger) |
| curace | obsolete form of cuirass |
| curdwort | lady's bedstraw, used to curdle milk |
| curnock | old grain measure, about four bushels |
| currance | a running or flow; currency |
| cursaro | old form of corsair, a pirate |
| cursitate | to run to and fro |
| curtalax | a cutlass, curtal-axe |
| curtaxe | old form of cutlass, curtal-axe |
| curtelace | old form of cutlass |
| curteous | obsolete spelling of courteous |
| curtlax | old form of cutlass, curtle-axe |
| curying | obsolete spelling of currying |
| custroun | a knave or scullion |
| cutling | the trade or art of a cutler |
| cuttoo | a large knife, from French couteau |
| cutweed | old name for bladderwrack (Fucus) |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
