Томас Майн Рид - Лучшие романы Томаса Майна Рида / The Best of Thomas Mayne Reid

the Emancipation – the Abolition of Slavery

Obeah, Obi – African traditional cults brought to America by the slaves

caladium – a group of tropical plants in Central and South America

piuche – a sorcerer, shaman or wizard

the Cape – the Cape of Good Hope, a rocky southern end of the African continent and the province in South Africa

fetish – an object worshiped for its supernatural powers

Guinea – a country in western Africa on the Atlantic coast

Coromantee – the name of an African tribe

custos rotulorum – here: chairman of the court ( Latin )

Prometheus – in Greek mythology, a Titan who stole gods’ fire to share it with the mortals; for that crime he was punished by Zeus who chained him to the mountain and sent an eagle to eat his liver

déjeuner– lunch or dinner (usually official) (French)

entrées– entries; here: meals ( French )

Quamoclit – a tropical American plant with pink or white blooms

sang-mêlée– a metis, a half-breed ( French )

Hindoo – Hindu, a people which lives in India

quadroon – in America, a person who has an African ancestor in the third generation

damask – bright pink, the colour of a damask rose originally brought from Damascus

Madras – a city in India

à la toque– as a brimless hat

dandyism – a way of life; from dandy – a man who pays too much attention to his appearance and clothes

canaille– common people ( French )

slaver– a ship that carries slaves

cannibal – a person who eats human flesh; in early human history, cannibalism was a widespread custom on most continents

Mandingo, Jolof, Pawpaw, Ebo, Moco, Lucumi – the names of different African ethnic groups and tribes

Koomi – a legendary land of giants and cannibals

Anthropophagi– cannibalism

cra-cra – the word used by the slaves for a whip

en profil– in profile ( French )

Israelite of Germanic breed – a Jew from Germany

Florentine – related to Florence , a city in central Italy, an important cultural and artistic centre

burnous(cloth) – a striped cloth worn by the Arabs around the body; later a similar mantel was called a burnous

Kordofan – a region in central Sudan between Dafur and the White Nile River

East Indiens – the peoples of India, a large country in Asia

Lascars – an ethnic group in India

Foolahs – an ethnic group of nomadic herders in western Africa

Darfur – a historical region in Africa, on the west of the present-day Sudan

Sockatoo, Timbuctoo – ancient cities in western Africa, on the southern edge of Sahara

the false prophet – Muhammad, the prophet of Islam; the Christian period of history ended in Darfur in 1200 with the advance of Islam

Laing – Alexander Gordon Laing (1793–1826), a Scottish explorer of western Africa and the first European who reached Timbuctu

Mungo Park(1771–1806) – a Scottish explorer of Africa, famous for exploration of the Niger River, the Gambia River and the Senegal River basin

the Quorra – the name of the lower part of the Niger River

parapluie– an umbrella ( French )

Hebraic – Jewish, Hebrew

Judah – one of the twelve tribes of Israel

rabbi – a title of a spiritual teacher in a Jewish community

Aesculapius – the Greco-Roman god of medicine, the son of Apollo; a medical man

sardonism – a scornful attitude

kerseymere – cashmere, a fine soft wool

savoir faire– dexterity, skill ( French )

distingué– distinguished ( French )

impedimenta– burden

sui generis– unique, rare ( Latin )

vertu– virtue ( French )

buckra – buck, male (often contemptuously)

Maroon – a descendant of a runaway slave of African origin; former slaves, the Maroons formed communities and had a language of their own – a combination of English and African languages strongly influenced by Portuguese

Endymion – in Greek mythology, a beautiful mortal loved by moon goddess Celene

cockney – a native of the East End of London

dégout– repulsion ( French )

Apicius – a rich Roman merchant famous for his feasts and banquets

Wilberforce – William Wilberforce (1759–1833), British politician known for his struggle against slave trade and slavery in the British colonies

Pomona – the Roman goddess of fruit that grow on trees

parterres– flower beds ( French )

Clarkson – Thomas Clarkson (1760–1846), one of the representatives of the English movement against slave trade and slavery