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What does "tenable" mean to Shakespeare?

English Language & Usage Asked by Aerol Vin on May 1, 2021

Hamlet:
If you have hitherto conceal’d this sight,
Let it be tenable in your silence still,
And whatsoever else shall hap to-night,
Give it an understanding, but no tongue:

Tenable seems a strange word. I don’t know if it means any of the following:

a) told outright
b) explained quietly
c) remain intact
d) kept secret

What did Shakespeare mean by tenable in this passage?

One Answer

According to A Shakespeare Glossary by C. T. Onions, revised by Robert D. Eagleson (Oxford University Press, 1986), "tenable" means

Capable of being held, that may be kept back or held secret

The adjective has the same stem as the French verb "tenir" (and the Spanish verb "tener"), which can mean both "to hold" and "to keep". Hamlet is asking Horatio to keep the apparition of the old king's ghost secret (or "to himself") forever ("still").

Answered by Tsundoku on May 1, 2021

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