1. losel — wastrel, scoundrel, profligate
You say you pity him, that sad losel in his cups, but you would not give him a pfennig of concern if you knew the families he has ruined, the wealth he has squandered, and the love he has scorned.
2. patten — overshoe of wood or metal once worn to elevate normal footwear above mud etc.
I do hope the council will ban the wearing of pattens within the church, as the sound of the metal footsteps upon the stone is not conducive to thoughts of the holy.
3. runagate — runaway, fugitive, deserter; vagabond
While pursuing the runagate my horse shied from a snake, throwing me off and allowing the desperado to make his escape once again.
4. shellback — experienced sailor
The old shellback looked out of place in this waterless expanse, still affecting a rolling gait as if to counter the motion of waves which he would never again feel.
5. gonfanon — gonfalon suspended from the head of a lance
The saint’s banner was fastened to the top of Sir Michael’s lance in the manner of a gonfanon, and we all knelt down to pray before it, asking for victory in the forthcoming battle.
6. grangerize — to add illustrations to a book from other sources
One can look upon grangerized volumes as early examples of scrapbooking, if sticking pictures snipped from other sources into another book can be thus labeled.
7. antiscorbutic — agent useful against scurvy
Citrus fruit was known as a powerful antiscorbutic even as early as the first decades of the Age of Exploration in the 16th Century.
8. diminuendo — gradually decreasing in loudness
The colonel’s voice now came diminuendo from the speaker, though whether from his movement away from the microphone or from some interference with the radio signal we did not know.
9. chapfallen — dejected, dispirited
Smuts looked the chapfallen youth in the eye and said, “You’ve got to go right back in there and face them, and get through the next hour, and then the hour after that.”
10. bibliopole — bookseller
Prinnie was a most sagacious bibliopole, knowing better than to express either interest or disdain at first sight of a newly presented tome.
Bonus Vocabulary
(British)
give gyp — to cause pain
You need better shoes, now that you’re working and standing on your feet all day; that’s why your back has been giving you gyp, but a good pair of shoes would fix you right up.