The Scarlet Letter — Page 3

Vocabulary

SEITE

Page; one side of a flat surface

DAS

The (neuter definite article)

ZOLLHAUS

Customs house; building for processing imports

DIE

The (feminine/plural definite article)

GEFÄNGNISTÜR

Prison door; entrance gate of a jail

VIGNETTE

Small decorative illustration or brief descriptive scene

WILDE

Wild; untamed, growing freely in nature

ROSE

Rose; a flowering plant with thorns

KLATSCHBASEN

Gossips; women known for spreading rumors

AUF

On, upon; preposition indicating position or direction

DER

The (masculine/genitive definite article)

ERBÄRMLICHEN

Miserable, wretched; of a pitiful degraded condition

ANHÖHE

Hill; a small elevated piece of land

STEHEND

Standing; being upright on one's feet

SIE

She, they, or formal you in German

WURDE

Was; past tense auxiliary verb werden

ZURÜCK

Back; returning to a previous place

INS

Into the; contraction of in das

GEFÄNGNIS

Prison; a place of confinement for criminals

GEFÜHRT

Led, guided; past participle of führen

AUGEN

Eyes; the organs of sight on a face

DES

Of the; genitive definite article

RUNZELIGEN

Wrinkled; having many wrinkles from age

GELEHRTEN

Scholar's; of a learned academic person

GLÜHTEN

Glowed; shone with intense inner light

EINSAME

Lonely, solitary; isolated from others

BEHAUSUNG

Dwelling; a modest place of shelter and habitation

SCHRITTE

Steps, footsteps; individual paces while walking

BERÜHRUNG

Touch; physical contact between two things

VON

Of, from, by; common German preposition

KINDERHAND

Child's hand; the small hand of a child

BRUSTSCHILD

Breastplate; decorative badge or shield worn on chest

GOUVERNEURS

Governor's; belonging to a regional governor

SIEH

Look, see; imperative form of sehen

DU

You; informal second-person singular pronoun

ZU

To, too, closed; versatile German preposition

ICH

I; first-person singular pronoun

WERDE

Will; first-person future auxiliary verb werden

KIND

Child; a young human being

NICHT

Not; negation word in German

VERLIEREN

To lose; to fail to keep something

PASTOR

Pastor; a Christian minister or clergyman

UND

And; basic coordinating conjunction

QUACKSALBER

Quack; a fraudulent or unqualified medical practitioner

SEIN

His or to be; possessive pronoun or infinitive

PATIENT

Patient; a person receiving medical treatment

JUNGFRAUEN

Virgins, maidens; unmarried young women

KIRCHE

Church; a Christian place of worship

STANDEN

Stood; past tense plural of stehen

IM

In the; contraction of in dem

MITTAG

Midday, noon; the middle of the day

JENES

That; demonstrative pronoun referring to something distant

SELTSAMEN

Strange, peculiar; unusual and hard to explain

GLANZES

Of the glow; genitive of brightness or radiance

HAUS

House; a building used as a home

TRAUER

Mourning, grief; deep sorrow over a loss

ALRAUNE

Mandrake; a plant with mystical folklore associations

ER

He; third-person masculine singular pronoun

SAMMELTE

Collected, gathered; past tense of sammeln

HIER

Here; in this place

DORT

There; in that place over yonder

KRÄUTER

Herbs; aromatic plants used medicinally or culinarily

AM

At the; contraction of an dem

MEERESUFER

Seashore; the shoreline along the ocean

WIRST

Will; second-person singular future auxiliary werden

MIR

Me, to me; first-person dative pronoun

NOCH

Still, yet; indicating continuation or addition

VERGEBEN

To forgive; to pardon someone for a wrongdoing

EIN

A, an; indefinite article or the number one

SCHIMMER

Glimmer, shimmer; a faint or flickering light

SONNENLICHT

Sunlight; the light emitted by the sun

BACHUFER

Streambank; the bank alongside a small brook

LÄCHELN

Smile; a gentle upward facial expression of pleasure

MIT

With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means

EINER

A, one; indefinite article in dative feminine

UNHEILSVOLLEN

Ominous, sinister; full of foreboding and disaster

BEDEUTUNG

Meaning, significance; the importance of something

HONORATIOREN

Dignitaries, notables; respected prominent citizens of a community

NEU

New; recently made or not previously existing

WERDEN

Will become; infinitive future auxiliary verb

WIR

We; first-person plural pronoun

UNS

Us, ourselves; first-person plural accusative/dative pronoun

WIEDERSEHEN

To meet again; to see each other once more

RÜCKKEHR

Return; the act of coming back to a place

EINLEITUNG

Introduction; an opening section of a book

SCHARLACHROTE

Scarlet; of a bright vivid red color

BUCHSTABE

Letter; a single character of the alphabet

Es

It; third-person neuter pronoun

ist

Is; third-person singular present of sein

ein

A, an; indefinite article masculine/neuter

wenig

Little, a bit; small in amount

bemerkenswert

Remarkable, noteworthy; deserving special attention

dass

That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause

obwohl

Although, even though; concessive subordinating conjunction

ich

I; first-person singular nominative pronoun

geneigt

Inclined, prone; tending or disposed toward something

bin

Am; first-person singular present of sein

am

At the; contraction used with superlatives or prepositions

Kamin

Fireplace; a hearth for burning wood indoors

und

And; basic coordinating conjunction

gegenüber

Opposite, across from; facing or in front of

meinen

My; possessive adjective in accusative plural

persönlichen

Personal; relating to a particular individual privately

Freunden

Friends; people one knows and likes well

allzu

All too, far too; excessively beyond a degree

viel

Much, a lot; a large quantity or amount

von

Of, from; common preposition of origin or possession

mir

Me, to me; first-person dative pronoun

selbst

Myself, self; reflexive intensifier pronoun

Angelegenheiten

Affairs, matters; personal or business concerns

zu

To, too; preposition or infinitive particle

reden

To talk, to speak; to communicate verbally

autobiografischer

Autobiographical; relating to one's own life story

Drang

Urge, impulse; a strong inner drive or compulsion

mich

Me; first-person singular accusative pronoun

in

In, into; common preposition of location

meinem

My; possessive adjective in dative singular

Leben

Life; the existence of a living being

zweimal

Twice, two times; occurring on two occasions

ergriffen

Seized, gripped; past participle of ergreifen

hat

Has; third-person singular present of haben

wenn

When, if; conditional or temporal conjunction

an

At, to, on; preposition of location or direction

die

The; feminine or plural definite article

Öffentlichkeit

The public; society or the general population

wandte

Turned; past tense of wenden, to turn