The Moonstone: 40 words to know before you read it
The 40 words Wilkie Collins uses again and again in The Moonstone that are outside the 4,000 most common in English. Learn them first and the opening chapters read much more easily. Each comes with its pronunciation and a sentence from the book.
aunt/ˈænt/120× in the book
… we have been talking of the loss of the Indian Diamond, in my aunt’s house in Yorkshire, two years since.
mistress/ˈmɪstɹəs/82× in the book
It was all one to me where I went, so long as my mistress and I were together.
till/ˈtɪɫ/76× in the book
There I lived till Miss Julia married the late Sir John Verinder.
nightgown71× in the book
But for that outfit, we should have discovered a new nightgown or petticoat among Rosanna’s things, and have nailed her in that way.
ladyship63× in the book
“We gratefully thank your ladyship,” I said; “but we ask your permission to do what is right in this matter by giving up our keys.
jewel/ˈdʒuəɫ/58× in the book
… I must revert for a moment to the period before the assault, and to the stories current in our camp of the treasure in jewels and gold stored up in the Palace of Seringapatam.
temper/ˈtɛmpɝ/55× in the book
A foolish wrangle followed; and Herncastle’s unlucky temper got the better of him.
afterwards/ˈæftɝwɝdz/54× in the book
… two years ago, and how it came to be lost in little more than twelve hours afterwards.
opium/ˈoʊpiəm/48× in the book
Sometimes they said he was given up to smoking opium and collecting old books; sometimes he was reported to be trying strange things in chemistry …
plainly/ˈpɫeɪnɫi/45× in the book
Herncastle’s fiery temper had been, as I could plainly see, exasperated to a kind of frenzy by the terrible slaughter through which we had passed.
upstairs/əpˈstɛɹz/44× in the book
When I wanted to go upstairs, there was my wife coming down; or when my wife wanted to go down, there was I coming up.
honour/ˈɑnɝ/43× in the book
And I declare, on my word of honour, that what I am now about to write is, strictly and literally, the truth.
smear/ˈsmɪɹ/41× in the book
says Mr. Superintendent, suddenly pointing to a little smear of the decorative painting on Miss Rachel’s door, at the outer edge, just under the lock.
instantly/ˈɪnstəntɫi/41× in the book
… when I know a family plate-basket to be out on a pantry-table, is to be instantly reminded of that basket by the sight of a strolling stranger whose manners are superior to my own.
proceedings/pɹəˈsidɪŋz/39× in the book
… except that he was pretty and delicate-looking—the two girls had stolen along the inner side of the hedge between us and the road, and had watched the proceedings of the foreigners on the outer side.
distress/dɪˈstɹɛs/39× in the book
My mistress came out among us, looking sorely puzzled and distressed.
laudanum/ˈɫɔdənəm/34× in the book
“Who gave me the laudanum, without my knowing it myself?”
innocence/ˈɪnəsəns/34× in the book
It was no longer a question of quieting my young lady’s nervous excitement; it was a question of proving her innocence.
oblige/əˈbɫaɪdʒ/33× in the book
… no doubt, on people who are really obliged to get their living, to be forced to work for the clothes that cover them …
inquire/ˌɪnˈkwaɪɹ/32× in the book
When I inquire what this means, Penelope says, “Fiddlesticks!”
thief/ˈθif/32× in the book
Early in the morning, the plunder still going on, General Baird announced publicly by beat of drum, that any thief detected in the fact, be he whom he might, should be hung.
interval/ˈɪntɝvəɫ/32× in the book
On summoning up my own recollections—and on getting Penelope to help me, by consulting her journal—I find that we may pass pretty rapidly over the interval between Mr. Franklin Blake’s arrival and Miss Rachel’s birthday.
dreadful/ˈdɹɛdfəɫ/31× in the book
… in regard to thinking about it, being truly dreadful after my lady had gone away, I applied the remedy which I have never yet found to fail me in cases of doubt and emergency.
privately/ˈpɹaɪvətɫi/31× in the book
I modestly declared myself to be quite unequal to the task imposed upon me—and I privately felt, all the time …
quicksand/ˈkwɪkˌsænd/30× in the book
Between the two, shifting backwards and forwards at certain seasons of the year, lies the most horrible quicksand on the shores of Yorkshire.
miserable/ˈmɪzɝəbəɫ/30× in the book
We were not a happy couple, and not a miserable couple.
rouse/ˈɹaʊs/29× in the book
I was roused up by my daughter Penelope running out at me as if the house was on fire.
drawer/ˈdɹɔɹ/29× in the book
One of the drawers inside was pulled out as far as it would go.
downstairs/ˈdaʊnˈstɛɹz/28× in the book
I went downstairs with the message, of which I took the liberty of presenting a new and amended edition of my own contriving …
sailor/ˈseɪɫɝ/28× in the book
It is a case (as a sailor would say) of very fine steering.
juggler/ˈdʒəɡəɫɝ/27× in the book
She wanted to have the three Indian jugglers instantly taken up; for this reason …
pardon/ˈpɑɹdən/27× in the book
“One of them (if you will pardon my mentioning it) was never keeping to the matter in hand.
fetch/ˈfɛtʃ/26× in the book
The only difficulty is to fetch out the dates, in the first place.
terrace/ˈtɛɹəs/26× in the book
… when I was stopped by hearing a sound like the soft beating of a drum, on the terrace in front of my lady’s residence.
disposal/dɪˈspoʊzəɫ/26× in the book
In that case, and in no other, certain sealed instructions relating to the disposal of the Diamond, and deposited with it, were to be opened, and followed implicitly.
maid/ˈmeɪd/25× in the book
… when old enough, to be Miss Rachel’s own maid.
useless/ˈjusɫəs/25× in the book
Quite useless!
objection/əbˈdʒɛkʃən/25× in the book
But she points out one objection.
puzzle/ˈpəzəɫ/25× in the book
“It’s just possible, Betteredge, that my stranger and your three jugglers may turn out to be pieces of the same puzzle.”
stain/ˈsteɪn/24× in the book
“The stain is taken off,” she said.
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
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