1. parricide - n.
murder of a father; the act of killing one's father; patricide.
Duncan's sons were suspected of parricide.
The deranged son committed parricide in front of his horrified mother.
2. quell - v.
to suppress; to put an end to; to extinguish; to vanquish; to subdue; to calm; to pacify.
Inoculation was used to quell to scourge of smallpox.
The mother quelled the qualms of her child.
3. forbear - v.
to patiently endure something which is unpleasant; to keep oneself in check; to control oneself; to refrain from doing something one is inclined to perform.
Macduff could not forbear taking revenge on Macbeth for the slaying of his family.
Macbeth could not forbear the aggressive drive of his own ambition.
4. surreptitious - adj.
secretive; clandestine; sneaky; acting in a stealthy way; furtive; characterized by fraud.
The student cast a surreptitious glance at the test of her classmate sitting next to her.
The slaying of Duncan was a surreptitious act.
5. thrall - n.
a slave; a person in bondage; a person who is morally or mentally enslaved by some power; a vassal; a serf.
Macbeth was a thrall of ambition.
The guards of King Duncan, whom Lady Macbeth had drugged, were thralls of sleep when Macbeth committed the murder.
6. homage - n.
reverential regard; respect shown through external action; an expression of great honor.
Macbeth pretended to pay homage to King Duncan.
On Thanksgiving, Americans pay homage to their founding fathers.
7. rue - v.
to regret; to mourn; to feel sorry about something; to feel remorse; to wish an act could be undone.
Lady Macbeth rued the day she convinced her husband to murder the king.
The student rued his decision not to study for the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
8. rebuke - v.
to scold; to reprimand; to take to task; to criticize harshly.
The teacher rebuked the student for her continual lateness.
Macbeth could not stand to be rebuked by his wife.
9. minion - n.
a servile follower; a subordinate of a person in power; a minor official; a favorite dependent especially a fawning one.
Macbeth was one of King Duncan's minions who led Scotland to victory in battle.
Were the witches the minions of Satan?
10. knave - n.
a young male servant; a miscreant; a rascal; a rogue; a tricky, deceitful person; a dolt.
The knave cut class on the day of the final exam.
Some politicians consider Edward Snowden a knave for revealing secret documents to the media.
11. posterity - n.
offspring; all descendants; future generations; progeny; lineage; issue; a group of those descended directly from the same parents or ancestors.
A record of events was preserved for posterity.
Judgement of this age must be left to posterity.
12. mien - n.
air; bearing; demeanor; manner.
Macbeth had the mien of a general but the heart of a killer.
The President of the United States has a noble mien.
13. scepter - n.
a rod or wand borne in the hand as an emblem of regal or imperial power; a symbol of sovereignty; a ceremonial staff held by a monarch as a symbol of authority.
Macbeth usurped the scepter from Duncan.
He who claims the scepter rules.
14. internecine - adj.
of or relating to a struggle within a nation or organization; mutually destructive; characterized by bloodshed; involving conflict within a group.
The internecine struggle for power in Scotland ended with the beheading of Macbeth.
The Civil War involved the most brutal internecine conflict in the history of The United States.
15. bellicose - adj.
warlike in a manner or temperament; pugnacious; combative; eager to fight; aggressively hostile.
On the battlefield, Macbeth was a bellicose warrior.
The militants in Egypt were bellicose and fearless.
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