Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’, and its more obscure vocabulary

This is what I’ve been working on for the past few days – it’s a list of the words in
‘Lolita’ that I deemed to be potentially difficult or confusing, and their definitions:

Aberrant – deviating from the proper or expected course; deviating from what is
normal; untrue to type.

Abet – to approve, encourage, and support (an action or a plan of action); urge and
help on.

Abject – brought low in condition or status; being of the most contemptible kind;
miserable, wretched.

Acrosonic – a word invented by Nabokov, meaning ‘a noise reaching to and past the
sonic barrier’.

Accroupie – from the French accroupir: to squat.

Adman – a man who designs, writes, acquires, or sells advertising.

Adumbrate – to give a sketchy outline of; to prefigure indistinctly; foreshadow; to

disclose partially or guardedly; to overshadow; shadow or obscure.

Ague – a febrile condition in which there are alternating periods of chills, fever, and
sweating; used chiefly in reference to the fevers associated with malaria; chill or fit of
shivering.

Alembic – an apparatus consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, formerly used

for distilling liquids; a device that purifies or alters by a process comparable to
distillation.

Ambulate – to walk from place to place; move about.

Ancilla – accessory, aid.

Anent – regarding; concerning.

Ante-bellum – an expression derived from Latin that means “before war”

(ante,”before,” and bellum, “war”).

Antecedent – a preceding event, condition, cause, phrase, or word.

Antemeridian – of, relating to, or taking place in, the morning.

Anthropometric – Anthropometry is the study of human body measurement for use
in anthropological classification and comparison.

Apostately – one who has abandoned one’s religious faith, political party or
principles.

Apotheosis – exaltation to divine rank or stature; deification; elevation to a

preeminent or transcendent position; glorification; an exalted or glorified example.

Arch – mischievous; roguish.

Argus – in Greek Mythology, a giant with 100 eyes who was made guardian of Io and
was later slain by Hermes; an alert or watchful person; a guardian.

Aster – any of various plants of the genus Aster in the composite family, having
radiate flower heads with white, pink, or violet rays and a usually yellow disk; a star-
shaped structure formed in the cytoplasm of a cell and having ray-like fibers that
surround the centrosome during mitosis.

Atoll – a ring-like coral island and reef that nearly or entirely encloses a lagoon.

Backfisch – German- literally, ‘fish for frying’. A teenage or late adolescent girl.

Bemazed – bewildered.

Banal – drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite.

Bellelettrist – one versed in belles-lettres, a phrase to identify literary works that do

not fall into other major categories, such as fiction, poetry or drama. Thus,it would
include essays, récits, published collections of speeches and letters, satirical and
humorous writings, and other miscellaneous works. The Oxford English Dictionary
says that ‘it is now generally applied (when used at all) to the lighter branches of
literature.’

Bilious – resembling bile, especially in color: a bilious green; having a peevish

disposition;ill-humored.

Blunderbus – a muzzle-loading firearm with a flared, trumpet-like barrel which

discharges lead shot upon firing.

Bodkin – a dagger or stiletto knife; a sharp slender instrument for making holes in
cloth or a blunt needle with a large eye for drawing tape or ribbon through a loop or
hem;a hairpin.

Bonhomie – a pleasant and affable disposition; geniality.

 Bower – a shaded, leafy recess; an arbor; a woman’s private chamber in a medieval
castle; a boudoir; a rustic cottage; a country retreat.

Bruder – German – brother.

Bullybag – scrotum.

Burgher – a citizen of a town or borough; a comfortable or complacent member of

the middle class.

Burlesque – a literary or dramatic work that ridicules a subject either by presenting

a solemn subject in an undignified style or an inconsequential subject in a dignified
style; a ludicrous or mocking imitation; a travesty.

Butte – a hill that rises abruptly from the surrounding area and has sloping sides and
a flattop.

Callypygean – having beautifully proportioned buttocks.

Caloricity – a faculty in animals of developing and preserving the heat necessary to

life.

Canthus – the angle formed by the meeting of the upper and lower eyelids at either
side of the eye.

Caravansary – an inn built around a large court for accommodating caravans; a

large inn or hostelry.

Carbuncle – a painful localized bacterial infection of the skin and subcutaneous

tissue that usually has several openings through which pus is discharged; a deep-red
garnet, unfaceted and convex; a red precious stone.

Celestial – of or relating to the sky or the heavens; supremely good; sublime

Cerebrate – to use the power of reason; think.

Charshaf – a Bulgarian word for ‘sheet’.

Cinquefoil – any of several plants of the genus Potentilla in the rose family, native
chiefly to temperate and cold regions and having yellow or sometimes white or red
flowers and compound leaves that in some species bear five leaflets.

Coevals – all the people living at the same time or of approximately the same age.

Conflagration – a large, destructive fire.

Connubial – relating to marriage or the married state; conjugal.

Constructivistic – (of a staircase) in this instance, using diverse structural elements

and abstract shapes.

Contiguous – sharing a common border, touching; together in sequence.

Contretemps – an unforeseen event that disrupts the normal course of things; an

inopportune occurrence; a minor disagreement.

Corant – a sprightly but stately dance, now out of fashion.

Corroborate – to strengthen or support with other evidence; to make more certain.

Coruscate – to flash or sparkle; to gleam.

Crenellated – (usually of a wall) having battlements.

Crepitate – to make a crackling or popping sound.

Cretonne – a heavy upholstery fabric, often floral.

Cryptogram – a text written in code; a symbol or figure of secret or occult

significance.

Decorous – in keeping with good taste; polite or restrained; proper.

Debouchment – an outlet, mouth or opening.

Defile – to sully, mar or spoil.

Deplore – to feel or express strong dislike or disapproval of a thing.

Deprecatory – belitting; intended to diminish or disparage.

Digne (fr.) – worthy, honourable, deserving; haughty, disdainful.

Disburse – pay out (money from a fund).

Dissimulation – deception; the act of deceiving.

Dolorian – a word that Nabokov has invented: it is a pun on both Lolita’s name
(Dolores) and ‘dolorous’, meaning painful/sorrowful.

Drumlin – a small hill or mound, typically one of a group, shaped by glacial drift.
Duenna – an older woman acting as a governess in charge of girls.

Dulcet – (of sound) sweet, soothing, mellifluous, tuneful.

Eclectic – deriving ideas, style or taste from a diverse range of sources.

Emeritus – a Latin past participle meaning ‘having served one’s time’; adj. – retired,
but retaining an honorary title.

Ensellure – a concave curve, formed by the spine; lumbar incurvation.

Epithet – a term used to characterise a person or thing; an abusive word or phrase.

Equanimity – composure; the quality of being calm and even-tempered.

Equipoise – an even balance of weight or other forces; equilibrium.

Eructation – the act or instance of belching.

Expeditious – done with speed and efficiency.

Fascinum – in Ancient Roman religion and magic, the embodiment of the divine
phallus.

Fatamorganas – mirages occurring in a narrow band above the horizon – were

reputed to be a product of witchcraft, intended to lure sailors to their deaths.

Favonian – pertaining to the west wind; mild, gentle.

Fretillement (fr.) – from the French verb ‘fretiller’ – to wriggle.

Friable – easily broken up; crumbly.

Frileux – chilly; sensitive to the cold; cautious.

Fructuate – to produce fruit.

Gagoon – a pun on the words ‘baboon’, ‘gag’, and ‘goon’, intended to suggest a
repulsive simian creature.

Gamut – the complete range or scope of something.

Gitanilla – an ironic reference to Cervantes’ idealistically romantic short story, ‘La

Gitanilla’, or ‘The Gypsy Girl’.
Glaucous – (in botany) covered with a grayish, blueish or whitish waxy coating or
bloom that is easily rubbed off; of a pale grayish or blueish green.

Gloam – twilight; the time of day immediately following the sunset.

Gnomide – a female gnome.

Gonadal – of or pertaining to the testis or ovary.

Gredin (fr.) – rascal

Grue (fr.) – hooker, whore.

Habitus – general physical state, esp. with regard to susceptibility to disease;

constitution.

Herculanita – heroin (drug).

Heliotropic – growth or orientation of an organism, esp. a plant, toward or away

from the light of the sun.

Hermetic – completely sealed; impervious to outside influence.

Hypnotoid – similar to or resembling hypnosis.

Immolate – to kill or offer as a sacrifice; to sacrifice something highly valued.

Impetuous – rash, impulsive; liable to act without consideration.

Impudent – mischievous or disrespectful.

Impunity – exemption or immunity from punishment or recrimination.

Inane – senseless, empty, unintelligent.

Incarnadine – of a blood-red colour; to tinge or stain with red.

Incipient – beginning; just starting to be or to happen.

Incondite – rough or crude; poorly constructed.

Indigent – destitute, so poor as to lack basic necessities; (noun) impoverished person.

Ineffable – to great or intense to be expressed in words; too sacred to be uttered.

Inimical – adverse or unfavourable; unfriendly, hostile.

Inveigle – to lead or trick (someone into a situation) or persuade (someone to do
something) by cleverness or trickery, usu. followed by ‘into’.

Jovian – of or relating to Jupiter; either the Roman god or the planet.

Kilmerite – in reference to Joyce Kilmer, a New Jersey poet.

Laconic – (of a person, speech or style of writing) using very few words.

Laodicean – of or relating Laodicea; lukewarm or half-hearted, esp. with respect to

religion or politics; (n) a person with such an attitude.

Largesse – generosity.

Lassitude – a state of physical or mental weariness; a lack of energy.

Lateral – of, at , toward, or from the sides.

Limpid – unclouded and completely clear.

Leporine – of or resembling a hare.

Logodaedaly – the skilful, clever use of words; the arbitrary or capricious coining of
words.

Logomancy – a school of magic that derives from the power of words and language.

Lucerne – a rarely used name for Alfalfa, a flowering plant.

Lucid – easily understood; sane or rational; translucent or transparent.

Lucre – money or profits.

Manque (fr.) – lacking, unfulfilled.

Matitudinal – of the morning.

Meretricious – attracting attention in a vulgar manner; plausible but false or

insincere.

Mesas – a broad, flat-topped elevation with one or more cliff-like sides.

Mummery – a pretentious or hypocritical show or ceremony.

Mythopoeic – giving rise to myths.

Nacreous – of or like the pearly internal layer of mollusc shells.

Nates – the buttocks.

Nubile – sexually mature and attractive; ready for marriage.

Oculate – possessing eyes; relating to or resembling eyes.

Olisbos – a classical term for a dildo.

Orbits – ‘a huge St Bernard dog with orbits like pansies’: the bony cavity of the skull
containing the eye; the skin surrounding the eye.

Pacific – of a peaceful nature; tranquil.

Palaepedology – (Geology) the study of soils.

Palatial – resembling a palace in being large and grand.

Parsimonious – excessively sparing or frugal.

Partisan – a fervent supporter or proponent of a cause, person, party or idea.

Pat (adj.) – trite or glib; timely or opportune.

Patrician – a person of refined upbringing, manners and tastes.

Pavonine – of or resembling a peacock or a peacock’s tail.

Pederosis – paedophilia.

Pendant – one of a matched pair; a companion piece.

Pentapod – having five limbs – Nabokov uses this term to emphasise the fact that the
relationship between Humbert and Lolita revolved around sex (the ‘fifth limb’ being
Humbert’s penis).

Perfunctory – carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection.

Perineum – The portion of the body in the pelvis occupied by urogenital passages and
the rectum, bounded in front by the pubic arch, in the back by the coccyx, and
laterally by part of the hipbone.

Pharmocopoeial – a book containing an official list of medicinal drugs and their uses;
a collection of drugs.
Philistine – an ignorant person, regarded as being antagonistic to artistic and
cultural values.

Philtre – a love potion; a magic potion or charm.

Phocine – of, relating to, or resembling seals.

Pickaninny – an offensive term, now obsolete, for a young black child.

Pollex – Latin for ‘thumb’.

Poltroon – a base coward; a contemptible person.

Potentate – one with the power and position to rule over others; a leader or
monarch.

Preprandial – done or taken before dinner.

Priap/Priapus – a minor fertility god of male genitalia, depicted as having an

oversized, permanent erection.

Prismatic – of, relating to, or resembling a prism.

Purlieus – the area near or surrounding a place; a person’s usual haunts.

Purling – gently murmuring, as a brook might.

Raffish – unconventional and disreputable in a charming or alluring manner.

Rapacious – aggressively greedy or grasping.

Recueillement (fr.) – contemplation

Rhapsodically – ecstatically, in an ecstatic manner.

Ribald – referring to sexual matters in an amusingly rude or irreverent way; bawdy.

Rime – the frost formed on cold objects by the rapid freezing of water vapour.

Roan – (of an animal) having a rich brown coat, sprinkled with white or grey; a
creature with a coat of this sort.

Rufous – reddish brown in colour.

Saguaro – a very large cactus with ribbed, upward-curving branches, white funnel-
shaped flowers, and edible red fruit.
Sapor – a quality perceptible to the sense of taste; flavour.

Saturnalia – the ancient Roman seven-day festival of Saturn, which began on

December 17th; a celebration marked by unrestrained revelry and often
licentiousness; an orgy.

Satyr – a mythological woodland creature depicted as a man with the ears, legs and
horns of a goat and a fondness for revelry.

Scion – descendant or heir.

Selenian – pertaining to the moon.

Seraglio – a large harem, or sultan’s palace.

Simalacrum – an image or representation; an unreal or vague semblance.

Solipsism – the theory that the self is the only thing that can be known and verified;
the theory or view that the self is the only reality.

Specious – having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious; deceptively
attractive.

Sportive – playful, frolicsome; relating to or interested in sports; amorous or wanton.

Supplicate – to ask for humbly or earnestly, as by praying; to make a humble

entreaty.

Suffuse – to spread through or over, as with liquid, colour or light.

Synchronous – occurring or existing at the same time; moving or operating at the

same rate.

Syncope – either the shortening of a word by omission of a sound, letter, or syllable

from the middle of the word (for example, e’er for ever); a brief loss of consciousness
caused by a temporary deficiency of oxygen in the brain; a swoon.

Tabulate – to arrange in tabular form; condense and list; to cut or form with a plane
surface.

Tachycardia – a rapid heart rate, especially one above 100 beats per minute in an
adult.

Taciturn – habitually untalkative.

Tricot (fr.) – jumper or vest.

Toiles (fr.) – fabrics, clothes.

Torpid – deprived of the power of motion or feeling, benumbed; dormant,

hibernating; lethargic, apathetic.

Torrid – passionate, ardent; hurried, rapid.

Transom – a horizontal dividing bar of wood or stone in a window; a horizontal

crosspiece over a door or between a door and a window above it.

Tumescent – swollen; tumescence usually refers to the engorgement with blood

(vascular congestion) of the erectile tissues.

Turpid – foul, base, wicked.

Ululations – a long, wavering, high-pitched sound resembling the howl of a dog or

wolf.

Undinist – person who derives sexual pleasure from urination (an undine being a
female water spirit).

Uranist – homosexual.

Uvula – a small, conical, fleshy mass of tissue suspended from the center of the soft
palate.

Valetudinarian – a sickly or weak person, especially one who is constantly and

morbidly concerned with his or her health.

Vapid – lacking liveliness, animation, or interest; dull; lacking taste, zest, or flavor;
flat.

Vehement – characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or

conviction; fervid.

Venery – indulgence in or pursuit of sexual activity; the act of sexual intercourse.

Venus febriculosa – a phrase that Nabokov appears to have made up, the meaning of
which is ‘feverish Venus’ (Venus being the Roman goddess of love and beauty).

Vermeil – vermilion or a similar bright red colour.

Viatic – relating to travelling; path, way.

Voluptuous – relating to, characterized by, or consisting of pleasures of the body or
senses; sensual; disposed, devoted, or addicted to sensual indulgence or luxurious
pleasures; provocative and sexually alluring, esp. through shapeliness or fullness.

Wimble – any of numerous hand tools for boring holes.

Winsome – charming, often in a childlike or naive way.

Withal – in addition; besides; as a further factor for consideration.