1. aelurophile — (also ailurophile) cat lover
He had that one condition almost fatal to an aelurophile: an allergy to cats.
2. distrait — distracted, absent-minded
I should have known something was wrong when Arthur seemed so distrait at dinner that he ordered red wine with fish.
3. polder — low land reclaimed from sea or lake, protected by dikes
If the sea levels rise much more every polder will be flooded and lost again to the water.
4. skainsmate — (obsolete) messmate; fellow, companion
“Oh ho! my skainsmate, you’ve been holding out on me this entire voyage!”
5. roquelaure — knee-length men’s cloak worn in the 18th Century
The pirate stood waiting in his finery by the lonely oak tree, while Sir Beddows removed his feathered hat and his dark green roquelaure, placing his duelling pistol into his belt.
6. nankeen — naturally yellow cotton fabric from China; cotton dyed yellow; yellow or buff color
His nankeen trousers stank of tobacco and ale from his continual carousing within the drinking hells south of the river.
7. esculent — edible
The garden box at the back of the yard is devoted to esculent roots including parsnips and radishes.
8. barbel — slender filament dangling from the mouths of certain fishes (such as the catfish), in which taste buds are located
These fishes use their barbels to hunt for food in the murky waters they inhabit.
(the below entry was discovered to be a duplicate of a word previously used in 2018)
sennight — (archaic) seven days, week
Jackson stopped by for dinner Sunday sennight last, giving me news of your recent betrothal.
9. straw boss — member of work crew who acts as boss
The weather wasn’t cooperating and we were way behind and the straw boss was acting all high and mighty trying to force me and the boys to work harder when we was working as hard as we could, what with the weather and all.
10. reremouse — (archaic) bat
We will quickly clip the wings of these reremice that fly about only at night in defiance of my lord’s order of curfew.
Bonus Vocabulary
(British soldier’s slang)
napoo — finished, used up, gone, no more
There’ll be no shelling tonight ’cause there’s napoo shells!