| a familiar: |
small animal or imp, which supposedly nursed on a witch's breast, thought to help in witchcraft |
| abate: |
become less severe |
| accordingly: |
as a result |
| adherents: |
followers |
| agues: |
high fever |
| aniseed: |
seed-like fruit |
| apprehend: |
arrest |
| articles: |
rules |
| assistants: |
officials |
| banishment: |
forced removal |
| barbarous: |
uncivilized, very cruel |
| barbarously: |
with extreme cruelty |
| beholden: |
grateful |
| blaspheme: |
curse |
| brethren: |
"brothers," friends |
| britches: |
pants or trousers |
| broached: |
expressed |
| burdens: |
troubles |
| calamities: |
tragedies; difficulties |
| casualty against his will: |
by accident |
| chief: |
leaders |
| chosen: |
named |
| civil: |
not religious |
| civility: |
civilization |
| clear ministry: |
the right thing to preach |
| combustion: |
violent commotion or disturbance |
| comely: |
attractive |
| commission: |
duty |
| conceive: |
think |
| consent: |
agreement |
| considerable: |
important |
| consulteth: |
communicate |
| contagion: |
infectious disease |
| contrived: |
planned |
| convert: |
change one's religion |
| corruptions: |
temptations |
| Court of Assistants: |
colony's highest court, later become Supreme Judicial Court |
| Court of Rome: |
Pope and his circle of advisors |
| Covenant: |
formal agreement |
| deterred: |
discouraged |
| diligent: |
hard working |
| discord: |
disagreements |
| discourse: |
discussion |
| distemper: |
disease, disturbed state of mind |
| divers: |
variety of |
| divulged: |
announced publicly |
| due: |
proper |
| dwell: |
live |
| ecclesiastical: |
church-related |
| edifices: |
buildings |
| endeavours: |
efforts |
| expel: |
force to leave |
| extream and pinching: |
absolute |
| fair structures: |
attractive buildings |
| faithful: |
accurate, truthful |
| flourish: |
prosper |
| fomented: |
stirred up bad opinions |
| forestalled: |
tricked |
| fortified: |
built for defensive purposes |
| fortold: |
predicted |
| furnished: |
published, provided |
| gainful: |
profitable |
| General Court: |
meeting of the colony's leadership; later, the Massachusetts legislature |
| have opportunity of passage for his departure: |
can plan his own way out |
| heretical: |
ideas that don't conform, in this case to the Puritans' Christian beliefs |
| hypocrisy: |
pretending to believe something you don't really believe |
| indicted: |
accused |
| instant: |
of this month |
| intemperate: |
lacking in control |
| Jesuitical order: |
a group of the Catholic church devoted to religious education |
| jurisdiction: |
[in this case] Massachusetts Bay Colony |
| knit: |
join |
| laden: |
loaded |
| league : |
about 3 miles |
| lurking: |
sneaking around |
| made parties: |
convinced people to support her cause |
| magistrates: |
judges |
| malignant: |
evil; harmful |
| mortal: |
fatal |
| notoriously: |
widely known |
| occasioned: |
caused |
| ordained: |
given religious authority |
| ordination: |
a ceremony in which an individual becomes a minister or priest |
| oversway: |
be more important than |
| paled: |
fenced |
| patent: |
the exclusive authority |
| perished: |
died |
| pew: |
bench in a church |
| physic: |
healing |
| pillage: |
robbing |
| plant: |
farm |
| plantation: |
[in this context] a town or settlement |
| planter: |
settler |
| planters: |
settlers |
| posterity: |
future generations |
| potent: |
strong and influential |
| pound: |
British unit of money |
| prejudicial: |
harmful |
| premeditate: |
plan ahead |
| preserved: |
protected |
| professing: |
thinking of |
| prospect: |
promise of |
| provision: |
food |
| railing upon: |
screaming at |
| ratified: |
agreed to |
| rectified: |
corrected |
| relation: |
report |
| remove: |
move |
| repair to: |
come to |
| repent: |
feel deep sorrow, great sadness |
| reprieve: |
pardon |
| respects: |
issues |
| Sea of Rome: |
Pope and his circle of advisors |
| sedition: |
the act of separating oneself |
| shilling: |
unit of money; there used to be 20 shillings in a pound |
| shingle: |
wood tile used to cover a roof or outside walls of a building |
| solicitation: |
urging |
| strait: |
passage of water |
| straitened: |
stressed, squeezed |
| subsisting: |
keeping someone at a minimal level of living; providing someone with the bare essentials |
| teat: |
a small protrusion, a nipple, [in this case] possibly a mole of some kind |
| tempest: |
storm |
| tenet: |
opinion, idea held by a group |
| thrive: |
do well |
| town treasurer: |
individual responsible for managing the town money |
| unaccountable: |
unexplained |
| underminings: |
arguments against |
| unfitted for their employment: |
unable to work |
| uniformity: |
when something is exactly the same from place to place |
| vented: |
publicly complained about |
| visitation: |
outbreak of disease |
| visited with: |
infected by |
| want of: |
lack of |
| warrant: |
reason |
| with any affection of displeasure: |
when in a bad mood |
