Callipʹolis

A character in the Battle of Alcazar (1594) by George Peele. It is referred to by Pistol in 2 Henry IV., act ii. 4; and Sir W. Scott uses the word over and over again as the synonym of lady-love, sweetheart, charmer. Sir Walter always spells the word Callipŏlis, but Peele calls it Calipŏlis. The drunken Mike Lambourne says to Amy Robsart—

“Hark ye, most fair Callipolis, or most lovely countess of clouts, and divine duchess of dark corners.”—Kenilworth, chap. xxxiii.

And the modest Roland Græme calls the beautiful Catherine his “most fair Callipŏlis.” (The Abbot, chap. xi.)

· ·

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.