1. roke — fog, mist; drizzle
The yellow sunlight now faded with the day’s passing, and the distant path across the moor disappeared as the roke rolled across the damp, grey heath.
2. peruke — periwig
He stuck his head through the wig door and waited patiently as James (or was it Jonathan?) placed the peruke upon his head and sifted the fine white powder over it.
3. cultivar — plant variety created by selective breeding
Ephraim Wales Bull developed the Concord grape cultivar to withstand the rigors of tough New England winters, going through tens of thousands of seedlings in the process, though he enjoyed little riches from his success.
4. septenary — of or related to the number seven or to a group of seven; a set or group of seven; a period of seven years; (music) the seven notes of a diatonic scale
Strangely enough, though the medical profession of the 19th Century recognized clearly the prevalence of the septenary ague by the commonly observed seven-day periodicity of the fever, modern medicine no longer observes this cycle among the accepted intermittent fevers.
5. batiste — soft light opaque fabric of cotton or linen, similar to (and sometimes synonymous with) cambric, used as linings, handkerchiefs, or lingerie
She sniffed ostentatiously into her black batiste handkerchief, giving public performance to her powerful spinster grief.
6. wit — (archaic) to know, to be aware of
Oh, the irony! I thought as I read mother’s diary, for I wot well what she wist not, that her lost love was as black a rogue as ever betrayed the heart of a lady.
7. salsify — edible winter root vegetable related to parsnip, also called ‘oyster plant’
We grow both parsnip and salsify in our small backyard garden, as both of these give great satisfaction from even small crops.
8. flinders — small pieces, splinters
The huge boulder tumbled down the side of the mountain and hardly slowed as it rolled right over the tool shack, bursting the outbuilding into flinders.
9. arseniuretted — combined with arsenic to form an arsenide
“The smell of garlic you perceive shows the presence of arseniuretted hydrogen,” he said, “the famous Marsh Test.”
10. vihara — Buddhist monastery
In the central hall of the vihara was a small brazier kept alight day and night, positioned beneath a small chimney hole cut through the roof of the central cave.