A Jabberwocky Glossary

There are two main sources to assist one in  understanding the poem. One is Lewis Carroll himself. In one of a series of  private little "periodicals" that young Carroll wrote, illustrated and  hand-lettered for the amusement of his siblings, he described a "curious  fragment". After a drawing of it, he proceeded to interpret some of the  words. These explanations are listed below.

The other source of  explanations comes from Humpty Dumpty, whom Alice meets in Chapter VI of the  book. He also provides explanations of some of the words -- not always the same  as Carroll. These too are listed below.

 

Word

Carroll's Explanation

Humpty Dumpty's  Explanation

brillig

Bryllyg (derived from the verb to brylor broil).  The time of broiling dinner, i.e., the close of the afternoon.

Four o'clock in the afternoon -- the time when you begin  broiling things for dinner.

slithy

Slythy (compounded of slimyand lithe).  Smooth and active.

Lithe and slimy. Lithe is the  same as 'active.' ... It's like a portmanteau -- there are two meanings  packed up into one word.

tove

Tove, a species of badger. They had smooth white hair, long hind legs,  and short horns like a stag; lived chiefly on cheese. "Toves" should be  pronounced to rhyme with "groves".

Something like badgers --  they're something  like lizards -- and they are something like corkscrews. ... They make their nests under sundials -- also they live on cheese.

gyre

Gyre, verb (derived from gyaouror giaour, 'a  dog'). To scratch like a dog.

To go round and round like a gyroscope.

gimble

Gymble (whence gimblet). To screw out  holes in anything.

To make holes like a gimlet.

wabe

Wabe (derived from the verb to swabor soak). The side  of a hill (from its being soaked by the rain.)

The grass plot round a sundial ... because it goes a  long way before it, and a long way behind it ... and a long way beyond it on  each side. (Humpty Dumpty's explanation was made with some "insights" from  Alice.)

mimsy

Mimsy (whence mimserableand miserable.) Unhappy.

Flimsy and miserable.

borogoves

Borogove. An extinct kind of parrot. They had no wings, beaks turned  up, and made their nests under sundails; lived on veal.

The first 'o' in 'borogoves' is pronounced  like the 'o' in 'worry'. The word is commonly mispronounced as  "borogroves" ... and this misspelling even appears in some  American editions of the book.

A thin  shabby-looking bird  with its feathers sticking out all round -- something like a live mop.

mome

I'm not certain about mome. I think it's short for 'from  home' -- meaning that they'd lost their way.

raths

A rath is a sort of green pig.

outgrabe

Outgribing is something between  bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle.

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