Vocabulary ladder

Moby-Dick

CHAPTER 1. Loomings.

2,226 words. Everyday vocabulary (band A) covers 56% of the text; the hard 7% is 131 entries — all of them below.

A 56.4% (392 types) B 8.0% (150 types) C 4.8% (91 entries) D 2.8% (56 entries) E 1.3% (26 entries) N 2.3% (49 entries)

Band B — common reading vocabulary

A sample of 24 of 150 — you will meet these often; they are explained only at the fullest help level.

Band C — recognition checklist

All 91 upper-intermediate words in this chapter. Tick the ones you know; the rest are explained at the fullest help level.

Band D — advanced (56 entries)

a-going
going, in dialect
bake-houses
buildings where bread is baked
knee-deep
up to the knees
pier-heads
the outer ends of a landing place
sea-captain
a ship's captain
sea-captains
masters of ships
tar-pot
a pot for thick black pitch
waterward
toward the water
shoulder-blades
the flat bones of the upper back
wonder-world
a world full of wonders
inlanders
a person who lives away from the sea
pine-tree
a tall tree with needles that stays green
absent-minded
with the mind elsewhere
mazy
winding and hard to follow
quarter-deck
the deck near the stern, kept for officers
inmost
deepest within
landsmen
one who works on land, not at sea
freewill
the power to choose for oneself
quarrelsome
given to quarrelling
forecastle · fore-castle ×3
the crew's quarters in the front of a ship
sea-sick
ill from the rolling of a ship
cunningly
with sly skill
infliction
something laid on as a burden
consign
to hand over to
mast-head
the top of a ship's tall pole
seaward
toward the sea
ship-board
aboard a ship
astern
behind a ship
thither
to that place
inducements
a thing that leads one on
barbarous
savage; brutal
genteel
well-mannered; refined
loitering
to hang about idly
bulwarks
a defending wall
methodically
in orderly steps
conceits
an idea; a fancy
ibis
a long-billed wading bird of the Nile
tribulations
great trouble and suffering
plumb
a weighted line for finding the true vertical
cataract
a great rush of falling water
thump ×2
a heavy blow
yonder ×2
over there; the world beyond
fowl
a bird
crucifix
a cross bearing the figure of Christ
insular
narrow, like islanders
schooners
a fast sailing ship with two or more masts
toils
dress; ladies' finery
spar ×2
to hold back from harming; extra
thence
from there
aloft ×2
high up in a ship's masts and ropes
interlude
an interval
roused
stirred up; awakened
hunks ×2
a thick lump
spleen
gloomy ill temper
enchanting
delightful as magic
inferred
to reason out from signs

Band E — rare & archaic (26 entries)

judgmatically
with good sense
water-gazers
people who stand looking at the water
abominate
to hate
spiles
a wooden peg driven into a hole
commonalty
the common people
athirst
thirsty
circumambulate
to walk all the way round
ungraspable
not able to be taken hold of
reverentially
with deep respect
hypos
low spirits
infallibly
without fail
undeliverable
not able to be handed over
monied
having much money
reveries ×2
a waking dream
decoction
a boiled-down drink
portentous
like an omen; warning of something big
barques
a three-masted sailing ship
idolatrous
worshipping as an idol
lath
a thin strip of wood under a wall's plaster
drizzly
with light steady rain
fowls
birds kept for food
cajoling
cajoled: talked round with soft words
judiciously
with sound judgment
broiled · broiling ×4
broiling: scorching hot
perdition
damnation
urbane
smoothly courteous

False friends — common words wearing old senses (4)

conceit
an idea; a fancy — the old sense here
deliberately
slowly and carefully — the old sense here
interest
the spectacle that draws a crowd — the old sense here
mortal
human — the old sense here

Names (19)

affghanistan
Afghanistan, a country in central Asia
coenties
Coenties Slip, an old landing place in New York
corlears
an old Dutch name for a bend of the East River in New York
hardicanutes
kings like Hardicanute, a Danish ruler of England
manhattoes
the people of Manhattan in New York
rensselaers
an old and leading Dutch family of New York
tiger-lilies
tall orange flowers spotted with dark marks
randolphs
an old and leading Virginian family
patagonian
of Patagonia, the wild southern end of South America
stoics
those who hold that a man should bear all things calmly
saco
a river of Maine
pythagorean
of Pythagoras, the old Greek thinker
rockaway
a stretch of shore near New York
ishmael ×2
the narrator of this book
cato
a Roman who took his own life rather than yield
seneca
a Roman writer on how to bear life calmly
whitehall
a London street of government offices; also a kind of rowing boat
egyptians
the people of Egypt
niagara
the great waterfall between the United States and Canada