Vocabulary in The Secret Garden

A deadly infectious disease spread through contaminated water, causing severe vomiting and diarrhea; here it is the epidemic that kills Mary's parents and household in India.

A native Indian nursemaid or nanny employed by a British colonial family to care for their children.

A low, single-storey house of the style common in British colonial India, typically with a wide veranda.

Stubbornly disagreeable and difficult to deal with; wilfully doing the opposite of what is wanted or expected.

A wide, open stretch of wild, boggy upland covered with heather and coarse grass, as found in the north of England.

Describing the sound or force of a strong, blustering wind sweeping across open moorland; used here to evoke the wild northern landscape.

A small back room or outhouse attached to a kitchen, used for washing dishes and other rough household work.

Relating to the dialect, customs, or character of Yorkshire, a county in northern England; used here to describe the broad, unfamiliar speech Martha uses.

In Yorkshire dialect, meaning lively, alive, or full of energy; used to describe something teeming with life.

A large European thrush known for singing boldly in stormy weather; it builds its nest early in the year and is noted for its fearless song.

An Indian prince or ruler; used here figuratively to describe a boy who behaves with the imperious, commanding manner of royalty.

Arrogantly domineering and expecting instant obedience, as if one has the authority of a ruler over others.

An uncontrolled outburst of rage and distress, especially one involving screaming and thrashing, typical of a spoiled or frightened child.

A fit of uncontrollable crying, screaming, or laughing caused by extreme emotion or panic, beyond the person's ability to stop.

In this text, a natural, almost mystical life-force believed to flow through living things and the earth, capable of healing both bodies and minds.

Black powdery carbon deposited by smoke; here used in the context of the sooty, industrial north of England and its contrast with the garden's life.

Small early-spring flowers that push up through the soil before most other plants, used in the novel as the first signs of the garden coming back to life.

A small hand tool with a flat or curved blade used for digging, planting, and turning soil in a garden.

A small rounded mound or raised patch of ground, often covered with grass or moss, found on moorland or in a garden.

A length of rope swung over the head and under the feet repeatedly as a children's exercise or game; used here as a symbol of Mary's growing health and energy.

Strange, odd, or difficult to explain in the period sense; used throughout the novel to mean unusual or puzzling, without any modern connotation.

Having a pale, yellowish, unhealthy complexion, suggesting poor health or a life spent indoors away from fresh air and sunlight.

Noisily windy and stormy; describing weather that is rough, gusty, and blustering, characteristic of the Yorkshire moors.

Medicine or a medicinal remedy; in older usage, any drug or treatment given to restore health, often a purgative.

A ghost or pale, shadowy apparition of a person, suggesting something barely alive or almost transparent with illness or grief.