saltpeter potassium nitrate, which is a colorless, crystalline compound used in fertilizers, gunpowder, and preservatives, etc.
savant a learned person; eminent scholar.
scow large flat-bottomed boat with square ends, used for carrying coal, sand, etc., and often towed by a tug.
settlement an institution in a depressed and congested neighborhood offering social services and educational and recreational activities.
silk-stocking a member of the wealthy or aristocratic class.
silpnas Lithuanian word meaning weak, faint, delicate.
skylarking playing about boisterously.
smote to have struck or hit hard.
sordid squalid; depressingly wretched.
specter any object of fear or dread.
stygian dark or gloomy.
subjugate to bring under control or subjection; conquer.
superfluity a quantity or number beyond what is needed.
swain a young rustic lover.
tacit not expressed or declared openly, but implied or understood.
tempest a violent storm with high winds.
tenement a building divided into apartments, now specifically in the slums that is run-down and overcrowded.
tesselated paved in a mosaic pattern of small, square blocks.
the deuce the devil; a mild oath or exclamation of annoyance, surprise, or frustration.
Tolstoy Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian novelist whose most famous works, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are examples of realistic fiction.
torpor dullness; apathy.
treason betrayal of trust or faith.
trichinae very small nematode worms found in insufficiently cooked pork that cause trichinosis, which is a disease characterized by fever, nausea, diarrhea, and muscular pains.
Trojan here alluding to the Greek legend of the Trojan horse, a huge, hollow wooden horse Greek soldiers hid in then left at the gates of Troy; the Trojans brought the horse into the city, and the soldiers crept out and opened the gates to the rest of the Greek army, which destroyed the city of Troy.
unregenerate not converted to a particular belief or viewpoint.
usurer a person who lends money at interest, here specifically at a rate of interest that is excessive or unlawfully high.
