An Elizabethan Lexicon
Language in the sixteenth century was rich,
poetic – and coarse. Here are some of the words I have gleaned in many years of reading histories and plays of the
period. Some still in use, many sadly long gone.
I apologise for the extraordinary number of derogatory
words there were for women, especially when men do not suffer the same
treatment. But you’ll have to blame our sexist ancestors for that!
 P
Packcloth: strong cloth to place under pack-saddle or to wrap goods in for carriage
Pack saddle: saddle for carrying goods
Pad: road
Padder: highway robber
Painful: diligent, painstaking, assiduous
Paint: put make-up on
Painted cloths: a cheap substitute for tapestry
Palfrey: ladies’ horse
Palliard: vagrant in patched cloak, often with sham sores to elicit sympathy
Palliasse: straw mattress
Pander: pimp or procurer
Pannam: bread, food
Pantoufles: slippers
Paper-house: office of The Counter prison in Wood Street
Paper royal: strong paper used in cartridges
Parcel-poet: amateur, part-time poet
Partlet: linen to cover the neck, shoulders and cleavage of a woman
Passamaine: open-work edging using gold or silver thread – ie passamaine lace
Patten/paten: wooden clog
Peine forte et dure: pressing to death under stones (punishment for refusing to plead in court)
Peck, peckage: food
Pelting: low, worthless or mean
Perchance, peradventure: perhaps, maybe, by chance, as it may happen
Perforce: by force, of necessity
Peso: gold or silver Spanish coin. Gold one was worth about eight shillings
Pestis, pestilence: plague
Pettifogger: a lawyer who deals with trivial cases – often in a quibbling, deceitful manner.
Pettifogging: trivial, paltry, cavilling behaviour
Petronell: a heavy pistol carried in the belt, used especially by cavalry
Philtrous powder, philtre: a love potion or charm
Pick-hatch: brothel
Pie corner: area given over to cook-shops in West Smithfield, site of an old tavern whose sign was a magpie
Pie-powder Court: court with jurisdiction over a fair
Pigeon holes: stocks
Pig-woman: woman who looks after pigs
Pike, pikestaff, pikeman: long-handled weapon with a sharp point, man who carries one
Pillowbere: pillow case
Piccadill: starched ruff or, humurously, a noose,
Pinnace: fast, light galleon for scouting, communications and shallow-water fighting
Pippin pie: apple pie
Piss prophets: contemptuous term for those who divine through urine
Pistolet: Spanish gold coin worth about six shillings
Pizzle: male member
Platter: a flat dish of pewter or wood
Plecke: a small enclosure
Pluck a rose: piss, pee, urinate
Poet suckers: novice poets
Points: tagged laces or cords for tying hose to a doublet or for lacing a bodice
Poking stick: a rod for stiffening the pleats of a ruff
Politic picklock of the scene: informer looking for seditious material
Poniard: a small, slim dagger
Porringer: bowl, often with lid and handle
Portague/ portigue/ portugue: Portuguese gold coin worth £4
Posnet: small metal cooking pot with three feet and a handle
Post and pair: a card game in which players are dealt three cards on which they place bets
Postern: a back door or gate, small private door – distinct from the main entrance
Potage: soup
Powder: gunpowder
Powder corns: grains of gunpowder
Powderman: maker or supplier of gunpowder
Powdering tub: a tub in which meat was cured with salt or spice
Prancer: horse
Prattling-cheat: tongue
Prechel: an implement for punching holes in horse-shoes
Presently: immediately
Press: a large cupboard with doors and shelves for storing clothes and linen
Prig: 1) ride 2) steal or plunder
Prigger of prancers: horse thief
Proctor (frater): charity collector, legal agent, attorney
Projector: agent provocateur
Promoter: informer
Puckrel: witch’s familiar spirit, imp
Puddings: sausages
Punk: prostitute
Punk’s evil: venereal disease
Pursuivant: a state officer with power to enforce warrants
Putcheon: funnel-shaped trap for eels or salmon
Pynner: a coif with two long strips on either side for fastening (worn by women of quality)
Pynsonnes: pliers
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