archaic, unknown, and pretty meanings particular to the text

† archaic   ♡ adored    → origin    ℵ not found

• acclivity —upward slope or inclination of the earth (side of a hill)
• appurtenances —an accessory associated with a particular style of living  → appertinentia → appertain
• beatitude —supreme blessedness
• blither —talkative; happy or joyous; cheerfully indifferent and considered to be improper
• calcareous —containing calcium carbonate (chalky)
• cerealia —female ceremony worshiping ceres, goddess of the earth and all growing things
• chapel-of-ease —a chapel situated at a reachable distance for parishioners that live far from a parish
• chitterlings —smaller intestines of a pig cooked for food
• coiffure —a person's elaborate hairstyle
• conning —to study attentively or learn by heart †
• conterminous —sharing a common boundary
• copses —small group of trees (coppice)
• creeper —any plant that grows along the ground, around a plant, or up a wall
• curate —a member of the clergy, an assistant to a parish priest 
• denuded —stripped of its coverings/possessions ♡
• desultorily —lacking a plan or purpose
• desultory —unfocused, lacking plan or purpose 
• diment ℵ
• ditty —a short, simple song
• dolorifuge —something that banishes or mitigates pain or grief
  • of latin → dolor (grief, pain) and fugere (to flee)
• dyspeptic —indigestion or irritability 
• eastings —distance traveled east
• equanimity —mental calmness, composure in the face of a difficult situation 
• factotum —an employee who does all kinds of work (of dominum factotum ‘master of everything’)
• fess —confessing, owning up
• fling —a short period of enjoyment or wild behavior 
• frizzle —a tight curl in hair
• fusty —smelling stale, damp, or stuffy
• gallopade —a sprightly kind of dance
• genuflection —lower one's body to the ground on one knee as a sign of respect
• hart —an adult male deer; a red deer over five years old
• hitherward —to or toward this place
• holmberry —the scarlet berry of butcher's broom (of tess’ lips)
• hoyden —a boisterous girl
• knacker —a person whose business it is to dispose of a dead animal, especially that which is not fit for human consumption 
• languorous —the oppressive stillness of the air ♡
• lighted —fall or land on, discover by chance
• limed —caught †
  • of birdlime → sticky substance put on twigs to catch birds
• malthusian —without “moral strength” the population increases and is kept in check with war, epidemics, famine
• nascent —just coming into existence and just showing signs of future potential 
• nettlecombe-tout ℵ
• nosegay —small bunch of sweet-scented flowers
• onerous —involving heavy obligation; burdensome
• ostler —(hostler) a man employed to look after horses, especially those belonging to an inn
• penury —extreme poverty; destitution 
• peony —shrubby plant cultivated for its showy flowers
• pollard —tree with the top or branches cut off to encourage new growth
• poppet —an endearingly sweet or pretty child or young girl
• public-house —a tavern
• raillery —good-humored teasing
• reel —lively scottish or irish dance
• selenii —woodland spirit, usually depicted as musical or a drunkard 
• sententious —given to moralizing in a pompous manner
• spurious —false or fake; not being what it purports to be
• tertiary —third in level 
• tippler —habitual drinker of alcohol
• untinctured —not tinged, stained, mixed or infected
• vale —a valley
• vegeto —luxuriant, thriving
• votive —offered or consecrated in fulfillment of vows ♡