1. demesne — lands adjoining a manor worked solely for the owner; estate; domain, dominion; possession of land or property in one’s own right
But for the foolish choice of his son Lord Willy would still own both castles and all their demesnes, but it is truly said that genius often skips a generation.
2. competency — sufficient income for daily expenses of living
But your father earned his competency from hard work and prudent investment, not from blackmail and sharp practice.
3. garret — attic room, usu. small and seedy
Though the musty garret frightened me, filled as it was with the detritus of my lamented late father’s curios—the dreary stuffed deer head with the broken antler, the somewhat stained trunk with indecipherable stickers which was never opened once during my childhood—my brother, on the other hand, found it the perfect retreat to sit at the gable window and read the latest novel by Scott.
4. dissimulate — dissemble, conceal (one’s true motives, appearance, etc.)
Though the family dissimulated the child’s origins, the entire village knew—or at least suspected with the firm quality of conviction—the boy to be Jesse’s natural son.
5. allelomimetic (also allomimetic) — of or related to actions likely to be copied by nearby members of a social animal group
I’m sure that it was merely allelomimetic behavior, but I became a bit unnerved when the entire herd of cows spontaneously turned about and stared in my direction.
6. intermit — to temporarily suspend or discontinue
Before he went back out into the thick fog, Sergeant Corm laid a strict injunction upon us not to intermit our close surveillance of the prisoner for even an instant.
7. widow’s peak — [idiom] prominent point in center of the hairline, esp. in receding hairline of older men
He disdained to disguise his widow’s peak and instead slicked it down with the same oily stuff he’d used as a young buck, giving him the appearance of a film vampire from the thirties.
8. unchancy — [Scots] unlucky; dangerous
But just afore you reach her cottage, you’ll have to cross the bog; don’t take the path at night, nor if there’s even a trace of fog, for it’s an unchancy trail even in the best of light.
9. pantaloon — (capitalized) character in commedia dell’arte; mean old foolish man, often the butt of jokes or intrigues; (pl.) baggy women’s pants or tight-fitting men’s breeches
Strangers thought the crabbed miser a mere pantaloon, doomed to lose his vivacious young wife to the first clown who might try to charm her away from the mean old gent.
10. haulm — single stalk or stem; stems or stalks collectively, used for bedding or thatching
If you plan to use your clover haulm for feed, be sure to thresh as soon after harvesting as possible, to ensure best quality.
Bonus Vocabulary
(British informal)
in good nick — in good condition
Once we cleaned off the stains and replaced a bit where a mouse had nibbled almost entirely through, we were surprised to find that the accordion was in good nick, and both regretted that we didn’t know how to play the damned thing.