Quo me rapis (pg. 52) -- Interpetations abound. From Horace, "where are you carrying me off to?"
deodands (pg. 52) -- An object or instrument which becomes forfeit because it has caused a person's death.
empiric (pg. 54) -- One who is guided by practical experience rather than precepts or theory, or, an unqualified or dishonest practitioner; a charlatan. Well, that clears it up!
Cadmus (pg. 66) -- When he sowed the dragon's teeth armed men sprang up.
portable soup (pg. 66) -- A precursor to boullion.
she was in kindle (pg. 222) -- To give birth to young.
Marquesas (pg. 235) -- Islands in French Polynesia.
volto sciolto pensieri stretti (pg. 249) -- Open face, concealed thoughts.
il faut souffrir pour être beau (pg. 298) -- One must suffer in order to be beautiful.
Old Sodbury's Island (pg. 330) -- Fictional island.
Juan Fernández (pg. 351) -- Island chain off the coast of Chile.
titivated (pg. 42) -- To make decorative additions to; spruce up.
drabogues (pg.224) -- Slut, whores, trollops.
hussif (pg. 234) -- Case for needles, thread etc.
vinolent (pg. 252) -- Given to wine; drunken; intemperate.
kevel (pg. 272) -- A strong bitt, cleat, or bollard for securing heavy hawsers.
barge-pole (pg. 18) -- A long pole used to propel or guide a barge. Also called a quant pole.
Jew-man from Mogador (pg. 85) -- Portuguese name for city of Essaouira in Morroco. What's this got to do with birds? I don't know.
puddings (pg. 76) -- Puddening: A quantity of rope-yarn, or the like, placed, as a fender, on the bow of a boat, or, a bunch of soft material to prevent chafing between spars, or the like. Also called pudding.
pinnace (pg. 87) -- Small boat, could be rowed or sailed.
Bonhomme Richard (pg. 280) -- Can't be John Paul Jones' ship, that was sunk in 1779. Maybe a fictional "what if it wasn't sunk" scenario.
struck down by a levinflash (pg. 302) -- Lightning flash. "Levin" is an archaic term for lightning, from Middle English.
weather-helm (pg. 306) -- The tendency of a sailing vessel to turn up into the wind. In general having a slight weather helm is considered a good characteristic since it gives the boat tight steering and stops the vessel when the helm is left untended.
hartshorn (pg. 329) -- An aqueous ammonia solution used as smelling salts, formerly prepared from the horns of deer.
fearnought screens (pg. 355) -- A covering for the hatches of thick felt. moistened with water.
Shiver the foretopsail (pg. 357) -- To cause (a sail) to flutter by sailing too close to the wind.
For me tobacco is the crown of the meal, the best opening to a day, a great enhancer of the quality of life. (pg. 212)
Papin's digester (pg. 610) -- A high-pressure cooker, precursor to the domestic pressure cooker.
beck (pg. 109) -- A gesture requesting attention, such as a nod or wave.
"...otherwise it [laudanum] is no more injurious than smoking tobacco." (pg. 56)
plum-duff (pg. 193) -- A stiff flour pudding steamed or boiled usually and containing e.g. currants and raisins and citron.
red Constantia and a drowned baby (pg. 327) -- A type of suet pudding, if you can imagine!
young Stupor Mundi (pg. 334) -- The wonder of the world, referring to Jack's new son.
widow's cruse (pg. 46) -- An endless or unfailing source of supply. [allusion to I Kings 17:16].
âge ingrat (pg. 93) -- Adolenscence.
nacreous flesh (pg. 06) -- Resembling nacre; lustrous; pearly.
marthambles (pg. 132) -- Research seems to say that O'Brian got the word from an old pamphlet or poster, but the disease is not real.
galley-ranger (pg. 132) -- An unpopular man who is forced to mess by himself having been turned away from all of the messes in a ship.
vails (pg. 263) -- Take off one's hat or otherwise show respect or submission to someone.
Oh what a glorious name for a tight, sweet, newly-coppered, broad-buttocked little ship, a solace to any man's heart. (pg. 80)
Honi soit qui mal y pense (pg. 48) -- Shamed be he who thinks evil of it.
lucas a non lucendo (pg. 180) -- Literally, "[called] a grove for being unlit", but used as "a contradiction in terms, often with facetious intent", used here in comment on the rose garden with no roses.
quasi pannus menstruat (pg. 241) -- "Like a menstrual cloth", is probably referring to Ezekiel 36:17, likening human justice to a woman's unclean rag.
Minorca (pg. 27) -- One of those islands just east of Spain that I keep forgetting about.
marelle (pg. 139) -- The game of Hopscotch, in French.
le porc inentame (pg. 153) -- Google translate says "pork unimpaired", but the POB Wiki says "the pig not yet cut up". Whatever THAT means!
Grimsholm (pg. 170) -- Fictional fortress on the south of Finland.
vixi puellis nuper idoneus (pg. 176) -- From the POB wiki - "recently I led a life congenial to girls".
Horace's lustra decem (pg. 176) -- From the POB wiki, ten five-year religious cycles. Fifty years old?
Nessus' shirt (pg. 177) -- The poisoned shirt that killed Heracles.
the Mouse (pg. 188) -- A shoal in the Thames.
a whole tun of wisdom (pg. 220) -- A large cask for liquids, especially wine.
avisoes (pg. 232) -- An aviso, a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat.
the lost small bower (pg. 244) -- The main anchor. A smaller main anchor?
Draw, incest (pg. 246) -- I have no idea what Jagiello is saying to the Dane. On later reflection...I still have NO idea!
one even observed Non olet in an undertone. (pg. 265) -- Pecunia non olet ("money does not stink")
amor vincit omnia (pg. 339) -- Love conquers all.
Pulo Prabang (pg. 160) -- Not sure if fictional, but seems to be in the Lingga Islands, south of Malaysia.
Chinese clepsydra (pg. 204) -- Greek word for water clock.
the False Natunas (pg. 266) -- Seems to be a fictional place.
pugil (pg. 274) -- As much as is taken up between the thumb and two first fingers. It says this in the text, I just want to remember it.
"I will tell you what, Maturin, if this baby of ours has anything like the discontented, bilious, liverish expression you have brought from town, it shall be changed out of hand for something more cheerful from the Foundling Hospital." (pg. 16) Oh, Diana!
Jemmy Ducks (pg. 24) -- A nickname for the crewman assigned to care for the fowl on a ship.
monstrous pines (pg. 43) -- Norfolk Island trees, conifers, but not true pines. Captain Cook thought they would be good for masts, but they proved to not be strong enough.
Tace is the Latin for a candlestick (pg. 45) -- The correct word in Latin for a candle is candela; tace is the imperative tense of the usual verb for ‘be silent’
clean sweep (pg. 86) -- Removing wall and furniture in order to fire all the guns on a ship.
his immense deserts (pg. 109) -- I always forget this word also means a reward or punishment.
farinaceous (pg. 133) -- Having a mealy or powdery texture.
foeda est in coitu et brevis voluptas (pg. 165) -- There is a dirtiness in copulation, and [only] a quick pleasure.
sic erimus cuncti postquam nos auferet Orcus ergo vivamus dum licet esse, bene (pg. 200) -- Thus we will all be, after Orcus [god of the underworld] bears us off. Therefore let us live well, for so long as it is allowed.
give way (pg. 228) -- 'Way' is a ship's progress through the water.
melanistic (pg. 11) -- All-black fur, skin, or feathers.
exigency (pg. 101) -- Requiring immediate action or remedy.
elisions (pg. 113) -- The act or an instance of omitting something.
abstemious (pg. 116) -- Characterized by abstinence or moderation.
"Janice, he missed you," she said. "He wondered where you'd gone." (pg. 157) I was reduced to tears by this line, for personal reasons.