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!
 S
Sacking, sacking law: prostitution
Safegard, safe-guard: an outer skirt to protect the main skirt when riding
Santar (or marker): shoplifter’s accomplice
Sapient: 1) itinerant quack or snake-oil salesman 2) wise man
Saye: fine silk or serge
Scaldhead: impetigo, contagious scalp/skin infection
Scarlet whore of Babylon: Roman Catholic Church (as seen by Protestants)
Sconce: 1) small fortress; 2) lantern or candlestick with screen to keep from wind; 3) a bracket candlestick fixed to the wall
Scot: bill, or share thereof
Scryer: crystal ball gazer, fortune teller
Scutes: small fishing boats
Searcher, Searcher of the Dead: a pathologist (person appointed to view dead bodies and to make report upon the cause of death, OED)
Seminary: Catholic priest from one of the European seminaries
Several: separate, individual
Sewer: storm-water drain
Shabbo, scab: skin disease of sheep, cured by application of tar
Shamefast: modest, bashful
Shave: steal, small-time, opportunist thieving of sword, cloak etc
Shepyke: pitchfork
Shifting: procuring abortions
Shrap: wine
Simpler: victim of blackmail associated with prostitution (crossbiting)
Singlewoman: unmarried woman, sometimes a prostitute
Si quis: first words of advertisement announcement at St Paul’s, for employment – from the Latin for “if anyone”
Sir Cranion: daddy-long-legs
Six-shillings-beer: small ale sold at 6s a barrel
Skene: a dagger, long knife used by gipsies
Skillet: cooking vessel (larger version of a posnet), used for boiling or stewing
Skink: pour or serve drink
Skipp, skip: basket or container
Slud, sblood: by God’s blood!
Smeller, smelling-cheat: garden
Smock: 1) shift or under-petticoat; 2) wench, derogatory term for a woman
Snap: share
Snaphaunce: an early flintlock weapon from Germany
Snout-fair: handsome
Solar: upper room with large window to get sunlight
Sotweed: tobacco – worth its weight in silver, says John Aubrey
Souse: pickled pork, especially ears and trotters
Sovereign: gold coin of varying values up to thirty shillings
Spanish Indian/ Spanish Indies: West Indian, West Indies
Spence: larder, store room
Spital house: hospital
Spermyse: a summer cheese
Spinner: spider
Splayfoot: flat foot that turns outwards
Sprecious: By God’s Precious Blood!
Spurring: sexual prowess
Square rig: the system of having yards and sails across the mast as opposed to lengthwise in the fore and aft rig
St Bartle: St Bartholomew
Stairs, water stairs: landing stage on river
Stampers: shoes
Standing bed: high bed, as opposed to a truckle bed
State-decipherer: government agent, informer, intelligencer, spy on look-out for seditious material
Statute of caps: law requiring the wearing of caps rather than hats
Stayed him: stopped him in his tracks
Stew: brothel
Stilliard, Steelyard: The London premises of the Hanseatic merchants, from German stalhof (warehouse).
Stiver: a penny or other coin of small value
Stockfish: air-dried fish (without the use of salt)
Stomacher: ornamental covering for chest or abdomen, worn under the lattice of a bodice (also called foreparts)
Stones: testicles
Store pig: nearly full grown pig
Stow you: shut up
Strange woman: whore
Stranger: foreigner, immigrant
Strumpet: loose woman
Styptic: sharp, bitter
Subtlety: an exquisite, sugary dish, often ornamental
Sumpter: packhorse or mule, beast of burden
Sumptuary laws: lay down what you may wear, or restricting what you may spend on clothes
Surfling water: sulphur water or similar cosmetic lotion
Swadder, swigman: pedlar
Swain: a young man, a lover or suitor, particularly rustic
Swive: copulate
Sword-and-buckler man: brash bully
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