Pride and Prejudice

Question 1

let

Answer 1

verb

3. [with obj.] chiefly Brit. allow someone to have the use of (a room or property) in return for regular payments: she let the flat to a tenant | they’ve let out their house.

Question 2

chaise

Answer 2

► noun
1. chiefly historical a horse-drawn carriage for one or two people, typically one with an open top and two wheels.
■ another term for post-chaise.
2. US term for chaise longue.

ORIGIN: mid 17th cent.: from French, variant of chaire (see chair).

Question 3

mean

Answer 3

adjective

3. (especially of a place) poor in quality and appearance; shabby: her home was mean and small.
   ■ (of a person’s mental capacity or understanding) inferior: it was obvious to even the meanest intelligence.
   ■ dated of low birth or social class: a muffler like that worn by the meanest of people.

Question 4

fortnight /’fↄ:tnʌɪt/

Answer 4

► noun
Brit. a period of two weeks.
■ informal (preceded by a specified day) used to indicate that something will take place two weeks after that day.

ORIGIN: Old English fēowertīene niht ‘fourteen nights’.

Question 5

mien /miːn/

Answer 5

► noun
a person’s appearance or manner, especially as an indication of their character or mood: he has a cautious, academic mien.

ORIGIN: early 16th cent.: probably from French mine ‘expression’, influenced by obsolete demean ‘bearing, demeanour’ (from demean2).

Question 6

fastidious /fa’stɪdɪəs/

Answer 6

► adjective
very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail: she dressed with fastidious care.
■ very concerned about matters of cleanliness: the child seemed fastidious about getting her fingers dirty.
fastidiously adverb
fastidiousness noun.

ORIGIN: late Middle English: from Latin fastidiosus, from fastidium ‘loathing’. The word originally meant ‘disagreeable’, later ‘disgusted’. Current senses date from the 17th cent.

Question 7

give leave

Answer 7

to acquiesce, concede, give permission to do something

Question 8

supercilious /su:pə’sɪlɪəs/

Answer 8

► adjective
behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others: a supercilious lady’s maid.

superciliously adverb
superciliousness noun.

ORIGIN: early 16th cent.: from Latin superciliosus ‘haughty’, from supercilium ‘eyebrow’.

Question 9

loo2 /lu:/

Answer 9

► noun
[mass noun] a gambling card game, popular from the 17th to the 19th centuries, in which a player who fails to win a trick must pay a sum to a pool.

ORIGIN: late 17th cent.: abbreviation of obsolete lanterloo from French lanturlu, a meaningless song refrain.

Question 10

piquet1 /pɪ’kɛt, ‘pɪkɪt/

Answer 10

► noun
[mass noun] a trick-taking card game for two players, using a 32-card pack consisting of the seven to the ace only.

ORIGIN: mid 17th cent.: from French, of unknown origin.

Question 11

propitious /prə’pɪ∫əs/

Answer 11

► adjective
giving or indicating a good chance of success; favourable: the timing for such a meeting seemed propitious.
■ archaic favourably disposed towards someone.

propitiously adverb
propitiousness noun.

OEIGIN: late Middle English: from Old French propicieus or Latin propitius ‘favourable, gracious’.

Question 12

obsequious /əb’siːkwɪəs/

Answer 12

► adjective
obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree: they were served by obsequious waiters.

obsequiously adverb
obsequiousness noun.

ORIGIN: late 15th cent. (not depreciatory in sense in early use): from Latin obsequiosus, from obsequium ‘compliance’, from obsequi ‘follow, comply with’.

Question 13

muslin /’mʌzlɪn/

Answer 13

► noun
[mass noun] lightweight cotton cloth in a plain weave.

muslined adjective.

ORIGIN: early 17th cent.: from French mousseline, from Italian mussolina, from Mussolo ‘Mosul’ (see Mosul, where it was first manufactured).

Question 14

stuffy /’stʌfi/

Answer 14

2. (of a person) not receptive to new or unusual ideas; conventional and narrow-minded: he was steady and rather stuffy.

Question 15

whist1 /wɪst/

Answer 15

► noun
[mass noun] a card game, usually for two pairs of players, in which points are scored according to the number of tricks won.

ORIGIN: mid 17th cent. (earlier as whisk): perhaps from whisk (with reference to whisking away the tricks); perhaps associated with whist2.

Question 16

copse /kɒps/

Answer 16

► noun
a small group of trees.

Question 17

paddock /’padək/

Answer 17

► noun
a small field or enclosure where horses are kept or exercised.
■ an enclosure adjoining a racecourse or track where horses or cars are gathered and displayed before a race.
■ Austral./NZ a field or plot of land enclosed by fencing or defined by natural boundaries.

► verb
[with obj.] keep (a horse) in a paddock: horses paddocked on a hillside.

ORIGIN: early 17th cent.: apparently a variant of dialect parrock, of unknown ultimate origin.

Question 18

dilatory /’dɪlət(ə)ri/

Answer 18

► adjective
slow to act: he had been dilatory in appointing a solicitor.
■ intended to cause delay: they resorted to dilatory tactics, forcing a postponement of peace talks.

dilatorily adverb
dilatoriness noun.

ORIGIN: late Middle English: from late Latin dilatorius ‘delaying’, from Latin dilator ‘delayer’, from dilat- ‘deferred’, from the verb differre.

Question 19

connubial /kə’njuːbɪəl/

Answer 19

► adjective
literary relating to marriage or the relationship of husband and wife; conjugal: their connubial bed.

connubiality noun
connubially adverb.

ORIGIN: mid 17th cent.: from Latin connubialis, from connubium ‘marriage’, from con- ‘with’ + nubere ‘marry’.

Question 20

felicity /fɪ’lɪsɪti/

Answer 20

► noun (pl. felicities) [mass noun]
1. intense happiness: domestic felicity.
2. the ability to find appropriate expression for one’s thoughts: he exposed the kernel of the matter with his customary elegance and felicity.
■ [count noun] a particularly effective feature of a work of literature or art: a book full of minor felicities.

ORIGIN: late Middle English: from Old French felicite, from Latin felicitas, from felix, felic- ‘happy’.

Question 21

simper /’sɪmpə/

Answer 21

► verb
[no obj.] smile in an affectedly coquettish (flirtatious), coy, or ingratiating manner: she simpered, looking pleased with herself.
► noun
an affectedly coquettish, coy, or ingratiating smile or gesture: an exaggerated simper.

simperingly adverb.

ORIGIN: mid 16th cent.: of unknown origin; compare with German zimpfer ‘elegant, delicate’.

Question 22

panegyric /ˌpanɪ’dʒɪrɪk/

Answer 22

► noun
a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something: a panegyric on the pleasures of malt whisky.
panegyrical adjective.
ORIGIN: early 17th cent.: from French panégyrique, via Latin from Greek panēgurikos ‘of public assembly’, from pan ‘all’ + aguris ‘agora, assembly’.

Question 23

diffident /’dɪfɪd(ə)nt/

Answer 23

► adjective
modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence: a diffident youth.

diffidence noun
diffidently adverb.

ORIGIN: late Middle English (in the sense ‘lacking confidence or trust in someone or something’): from Latin diffident- ‘failing in trust’, from the verb diffidere, from dis- (expressing reversal) + fidere ‘to trust’.