Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
adeterminerUS /ə/
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
accounting
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
actual
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From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
andeterminerUS /æn/
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
andconjunctionUS /ənd/
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
any
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
anyonepronounUS /ˈeniwʌn/
any person at all
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
arid
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From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
arranged
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
arrive
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
asconjunctionUS /æz/
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
atprepositionUS /æt/
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
attractive
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
Aunt
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
babyhood
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
back
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
beauxiliary verbUS /biː/
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
beat
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
beenauxiliary verbUS /bɪn/
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
blowsy
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
brains
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
broughtnounUS /ˈbrought/
a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
calling
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
came
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
case
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
certainly
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
childhood
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
consideration
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
couldmodal verbUS /kʊd/
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
country
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
creaturenounUS /ˈcreature/
a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
daughter
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
decorative
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
doauxiliary verbUS /duː/
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
Dumfriesshire
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
Edinburgh
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
energy
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
enough
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
esoteric
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
evennounUS /even/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
existed
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
expediency
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
eyes
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
far
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
feel
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
female
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
feminine
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
Finlay
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
Finlay's
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
firstnounUS /first/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
follynounUS /ˈfɑːli/
an action or decision that shows a lack of good judgment
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
forprepositionUS /fɔːr/
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
fromprepositionUS /frʌm/
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
frugal
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
function
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
future
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
gaunt
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
girls
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
given
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
go
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
goodnounUS /good/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
grounds
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
half-friend
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
half-servant
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
haveauxiliary verbUS /hæv/
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
hepronounUS /hiː/
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
herdeterminerUS /hɜːr/
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
himpronounUS /hɪm/
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
Hugh
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
ideals
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
IfconjunctionUS /ɪf/
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
imagined
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
importance
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
impossible
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
inprepositionUS /ɪn/
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
initiation
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
interest
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
itpronounUS /ɪt/
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
Janet
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
kind
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
leftnounUS /left/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
lie
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
lifenounUS /life/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
littlenounUS /little/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
Lizzie
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
matters
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
mature
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
mended
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
mere
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
merely
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
microscopic
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
more
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
most
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
Mr
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
notadverbUS /nɑːt/
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
notable
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
ofprepositionUS /ʌv/
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
onprepositionUS /ɑːn/
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
onepronounUS /wʌn/
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
only
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
orconjunctionUS /ɔːr/
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
out
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
overprepositionUS /ˈoʊvər/
above and across; more than
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
path
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
perceive
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
perhaps
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
poets
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
practical
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
prediction
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
presentment
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
presided
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
process
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
pursuing
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
realize
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
relations
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
represented
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
requirednounUS /required/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
respectable
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
rigorous
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
room
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
see
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
sex
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
significance
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
simply
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
some
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
sort
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
spare
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
sterling
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
submitverbUS /səbˈmɪt/
to accept another person's control or a difficult situation
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
suchdeterminerUS /sʌtʃ/
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
symbolic
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
thedeterminerUS /ðə/
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
then
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
there
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
thesedeterminerUS /ðiːz/
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading With such as these relations, actual or imagined, could only be of the most practical kind, matters to be arranged on grounds of expediency, and certainly not of the first importance.
thingnounUS /thing/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
things
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
thisdeterminerUS /ðɪs/
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
toparticleUS /tuː/
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
toldnounUS /told/
an important story-specific word used in this passage
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
treated
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
University
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
unlikely
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
unwilling
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Woman in her more attractive presentment, was a daughter of the poets, with an esoteric, or perhaps only a symbolic, or perhaps a merely decorative function; in any case, a creature that required an initiation to perceive her--a process to which Finlay would have been as unwilling as he was unlikely to submit.
up
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
value
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
village
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
washed
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
whatpronounUS /wʌt/
used to ask for information about something
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
whenceadverbUS /wens/
an old word meaning “from where”
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
whichpronounUS /wɪtʃ/
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
whileconjunctionUS /waɪl/
during the time that
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
whopronounUS /huː/
which person or people
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
widowed
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
Wilson
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
withprepositionUS /wɪð/
in the company of; together with
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
woman
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
women
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
world
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
wouldmodal verbUS /wʊd/
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading If anyone had told Mr Hugh Finlay, while he was pursuing his rigorous path to the ideals of the University of Edinburgh, that the first notable interest of his life in the calling and the country to which even then he had given his future would lie in his relations with any woman, he would have treated the prediction as mere folly.
youpronounUS /juː/
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
yourdeterminerUS /jɔːr/
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
yourselfpronounUS /jərˈself/
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading The things of first importance--what you could do with your energy and your brains to beat out some microscopic good for the world, and what you could see and feel and realize in it of value to yourself--left little room for the feminine consideration in Finlay’s eyes; it was not a thing, simply, that existed there with any significance.
youth
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To go far enough back in accounting for this one would arrive at the female sort, sterling and arid, that had presided over his childhood and represented the sex to his youth, the Aunt Lizzie, widowed and frugal and spare, who had brought him up; the Janet Wilson, who had washed and mended him from babyhood, good gaunt creature half-servant and half-friend--the mature respectable women and impossible blowsy girls of the Dumfriesshire village whence he came.
