1. matrix — womb, uterus
That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that opens the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the LORD’s.
[Exodus 13:12 (KJV)]
2. hederated — decorated or crowned with ivy
Under new management, however, the intriguing hederated adornment was torn down, as the ivy covering—ivy being the traditional armorial decoration of poets and musicians—was untimely ripped from the now barren walls.
3. flatlings (also flatling) — with the flat side
Having disarmed the young runagate, I spun him about with my buckler and showed my disdain for him by striking him flatlings across his rump.
4. draper — maker of woolen cloth, cloth merchant; seller of dry goods
She then married a linen draper, who was even less likely to encourage her artistic leanings.
5. fallal — item of finery or showy dress
Lest you think the sporran merely another of the fallals that seem to encumber men’s dress this season, ask yourself where the pockets are in a kilt—there are none.
6. smutch — to smudge or soil; to stain, to sully
The gossips so smutched her reputation that even in church the townsfolk gave her a wide berth, leaving her alone in her pew to contemplate (as the popular thought had it) her many sins and failings.
7. habergeon — sleeveless coat of scale or mail armor smaller than a hauberk
Thus armed with the habergeon of righteousness wherein each good act and thought supports the one adjacent, I sallied forth to confront the moneyed miscreants with their malfeasance.
8. inure — to habituate or to accustom (esp. to hardship, difficulty, pain, etc.)
After a time the continual practice inures them to decisive action almost immediately upon waking, though in truth it is brutal training.
9. orrery — clockwork mechanism showing planetary motion
Finally I endeavored to demonstrate the nature of eclipses and the phases of the moon by constructing a rude orrery using bungee cords and parts of an old glockenspiel I had lying about, but he remained convinced that the earth was flat.
10. bill of attainder — legislative act declaring a person guilty of treason or felony
Rightfully forbidden by our more enlightened statutes, the original bills of attainder were especially designed to disinherit the person outlawed, claiming all his estate for the crown.
Bonus Vocabulary
(slang, early 1800s)
gallows — very, extremely
I’d come up to such a high place in life that it’s no surprise I was to fall so gallows far, taking Betsy and the Poke with me.