Chapter 1 of The Canterbury pilgrims is here in full — 457 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Canterbury pilgrims is here in full — 457 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. Italics are represented thus _italic_. Set up and electrotyped. Published March, 1903.
Chapter 1 of The Canterbury pilgrims is here in full — 457 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
division of a word especially at the end of a line on a page
From this reading “Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.”
a style of handwriting with the letters slanting to the right
plural of “italic” — a style of handwriting with the letters slanting to the right
From this reading “Italics are represented thus _italic_.”
something that makes repeated and regular interruptions or divisions
From this reading “Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.”
forming words with letters according to the principles underlying accepted usage
From this reading “Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.”
relating to or occurring or used in typography
From this reading “Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.”
not made or become different
From this reading “Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.”
plural of “variation” — an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change
From this reading “Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
set up or found
In this reading “Set up and electrotyped.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Published March, 1903.
plural of “accent” — distinctive manner of oral expression
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Italics are represented thus _italic_.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
having something undesirable neutralized
From this reading Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Set up and electrotyped.
plural of “error” — a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
division of a word especially at the end of a line on a page
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
a style of handwriting with the letters slanting to the right
From this reading Italics are represented thus _italic_.
plural of “italic” — a style of handwriting with the letters slanting to the right
From this reading Italics are represented thus _italic_.
march in a procession
From this reading Published March, 1903.
easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind
From this reading Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
prepared and printed for distribution and sale
From this reading Published March, 1903.
something that makes repeated and regular interruptions or divisions
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
any object that is left unused or still extant
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
represented accurately or precisely
From this reading Italics are represented thus _italic_.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Set up and electrotyped.
without speaking
From this reading Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
forming words with letters according to the principles underlying accepted usage
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
brought into conformity with a standard
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
From this reading Italics are represented thus _italic_.
relating to or occurring or used in typography
From this reading Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
not made or become different
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Set up and electrotyped.
plural of “variation” — an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change
From this reading Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
Chapter 1 of The Canterbury pilgrims by Percy MacKaye holds 457 sentences, grouped into 92 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 457 sentences of The Canterbury pilgrims, unabridged, divided into 92 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Canterbury pilgrims by Percy MacKaye exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 457 sentences, grouped into 92 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 92 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 92 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The Canterbury pilgrims, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
