- star-cross'dadjectiveChapter 1 →
Doomed or cursed by the stars; in this play it means the lovers' fate is controlled by hostile forces beyond their control, making their happiness impossible from the start.
“A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life.”
- grudgenounChapter 1 →
A long-held hatred or bitterness between two groups, passed down through generations and kept alive by repeated acts of violence.
- mutinynounChapter 1 →
Open rebellion or violent disorder; here it refers to the street fighting that breaks out between the two rival families.
- dothverbChapter 1 →
An old form of the word 'does,' used in Early Modern English where modern speakers would say 'she does' or 'it does.'
“She doth teach the torches to burn bright.”
- sprungverbChapter 1 →
Grown or arisen from a particular source; here it means that Romeo's love has its origin in the very family he was raised to hate.
“My only love sprung from my only hate!”
- ereadverbChapter 2 →
An old word meaning 'before'; used in poetry to indicate that something happens prior to another event.
“Which doth cease to be ere one can say 'It lightens.'”
- rashadjectiveChapter 2 →
Done too quickly and without careful thought, likely to lead to regret; here describing a love that moves dangerously fast.
“It is too rash, too sudden, too like the lightning.”
- VirtuenounChapter 2 →
A good or morally admirable quality; in this line Shakespeare means that even a genuinely good thing can become harmful when used in the wrong way.
“Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied.”
- misappliedverbChapter 2 →
Used wrongly or in the wrong situation; the friar warns that a good quality put to the wrong purpose becomes as dangerous as a bad one.
“Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied.”
- vicenounChapter 2 →
Immoral or wicked behaviour; the opposite of virtue, though the friar notes that even a vice can sometimes be made honourable by the right action.
“And vice sometime's by action dignified.”
- dignifiedverbChapter 2 →
Made honourable or respectable; here it means that an action which is normally considered wrong can be given worth or nobility by the circumstances.
“And vice sometime's by action dignified.”
- plaguenounChapter 3 →
A curse called down on someone; Mercutio is not talking about a disease but is bitterly wishing destruction and suffering on both families.
“A plague on both your houses!”
- worms' meatphraseChapter 3 →
A corpse; food for worms in the grave. Mercutio uses it to say bitterly that the feud has left him a dead man, fit only to rot in the earth.
“They have made worms' meat of me.”
- fortune's foolphraseChapter 3 →
A helpless plaything of fate or luck; Romeo means he has no control over what happens to him and is mocked and ruined by chance.
“O, I am fortune's fool!”
- apaceadverbChapter 3 →
Quickly, at a fast pace; Juliet urges the horses of the sun to speed up so that night will come sooner and Romeo can return to her.
“Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds.”
- steedsnounChapter 3 →
Horses, especially powerful or spirited ones; here they are the mythological horses that pull the sun-god's chariot across the sky.
“Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds.”
- SubtlyadverbChapter 4 →
In a crafty, hidden, or devious way; Juliet fears the friar may have secretly and cleverly given her real poison rather than a sleeping draught.
“Subtly hath ministered to have me dead.”
- ministeredverbChapter 4 →
Administered or given a substance, especially a medicine or poison; here Juliet suspects the friar may have secretly given her something deadly.
“What if it be a poison which the Friar / Subtly hath ministered to have me dead.”
- dishonouredadjectiveChapter 4 →
Shamed or disgraced in the eyes of others; Juliet worries the friar wants her dead to protect his own reputation for having performed an unlawful marriage.
“Lest in this marriage he should be dishonoured / Because he married me before to Romeo.”
- untimelyadjectiveChapter 4 →
Happening too soon, before the natural or expected time; the frost that kills a flower before it has fully bloomed is a metaphor for Juliet's early death.
“Death lies on her like an untimely frost / Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.”
- everlasting restphraseChapter 5 →
Death; Romeo uses this phrase to mean he intends to die beside Juliet, ending all his suffering permanently.
“Here / Will I set up my everlasting rest.”
- yokenounChapter 5 →
A wooden frame that binds and burdens; Romeo uses it as a metaphor for the crushing weight of fate that has controlled and oppressed his life.
“And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars / From this world-wearied flesh.”
- inauspiciousadjectiveChapter 5 →
Suggesting bad luck or an unfavourable outcome; the stars are called inauspicious because they have brought nothing but misfortune to Romeo and Juliet.
“And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars / From this world-wearied flesh.”
- world-weariedadjectiveChapter 5 →
Exhausted by the pain and hardship of life; Romeo means his body and spirit are so worn down by suffering that he is ready to leave the world behind.
“And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars / From this world-wearied flesh.”
- sheathnounChapter 5 →
A close-fitting cover or case for a blade; Juliet calls her own body the sheath for Romeo's dagger, meaning she will drive it into herself.
“O happy dagger! / This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.”
Romeo and JulietPlay by William Shakespeare