| Madagascar | large island in the Indian Ocean off the south east coast of Africa; after Gulliver's crew mutinies in the beginning of Part IV, they sail for Madagascar (IV:1;2), which is therefore one of the points of reference in locating Houyhnhnm Land;
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| Maldonada |
principal port of the island of Balnibarbi; name translates into "London" [Clark] |
| Man Mountain | designation for Gulliver given him by Lilliputians; Gulliver's translation of quinbus Flestrin
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| Duke of Marlborough | John Churchill (1650-1722): English general known for his successes in the War of the Spanish Succession; a Whig who opposed the Treaty of Utrecht; possible model for Skyresh Bolgolam, the Lilliputian admiral who was Gulliver's enemy; also appears in Lilliput as "a considerable person at Court" who warns Gulliver of plot against him (I:7;3) as Marlborough told Bolingbroke of Whig to try him for treason. |
Mary II
 | (1662-1694); Queen of England, 1689-94, with William III; daughter of James II and sister of Anne. She married her cousin William, then Stadtholder of the United Netherlands, in 1677. The couple were invited to take the throne from James II by the Whig leadership. Mary died of smallpox and William continued to rule until his death in 1702. Mary's sister Anne succeeded them. (see Biography.com) |
| Master Houyhnhnm | the Dapple-Grey horse (Houyhnhnm) who discovers Gulliver in the fourth voyage, brings him into his household, and teaches him. In the narrative, the Master Houyhnhnm is first encountered when he rescues Gulliver from the Yahoos shortly after landing on their island (IV:1;5). However, Gulliver refers to "my Master Houyhnhnm" reverently and repeatly in the later-added "A Letter from Capt. Gulliver, to His Cousin Sympson."
- "not decent to praise any Animal of our Composition before my Master Houyhnhnm" (Letter;1)
- "my illustrious Master" (Letter;8)
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| meaner | less well off financially;
- "Females of the meaner sort" (I:6;16)
- "meaner Families" (I:6;17)
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| measure |
contrast the methods and outcomes used to fit Gulliver with new clothes in in Lilliput and Laputa.
- Lilliput: "The Sempstresses took my Measure as I lay on the ground, one standing at my Neck, and another at my Mid-Leg, with a strong Cord extended, that each held by the end, while the third measured the length of the Cord with a Rule an Inch long. Then they measured my right Thumb, and desired no more; for by a mathematical Computation, that twice round the Thumb is once round the Wrist, and so on to the Neck and the Waist, and by the help of my old Shirt, which I displayed on the Ground before them for a Pattern, they fitted me exactly." (I:6;19)
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| Meniere's disease | disorder of the inner ear resulting in recurrent vertigo, ringing in the ears, and deafness. It is believed that the giddiness afflicting Swift was Meniere's disease. (see Online Medical Dictionary) |
| merchantman |
commercial ship used for ocean-going trade |
| Mildendo | imperial capital and major metropolis of Lilliput; Clark translates the name as "London" and also "Mile End."
- first mention: "which, as I afterwards found, was towards the Capital City, about half a Mile distant" (I:1)
- description:
"The Wall which encompassed it is two foot and a half high, and at least eleven Inches broad...; and it is flanked with strong Towers at ten foot distance... The City is an exact Square, each Side of the Wall being five hundred foot long. The two great Streets, which run cross and divide it into four Quarters, are five foot wide... The Town is capable of holding five hundred thousand Souls. The Houses are from three to five Stories." (I:4)
- other features:
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| Misoxulos | hating (Gr. mis); sharp (Gk. oxy); wood (Gr. "hyle" with masculine ending "os") according to William Kupersmith: signature on a letter regarding the Wood's half-pence controversy generally attributed to Swift printed in John Harding's Dublin News Letter (April 1724) per Brian Connery |
| Moor Park | estate and home of William Temple, Swift's employer and mentor; it was Swift's home, off and on, between 1690-99, until Temple's death. |
| Motte, Benjamin | printer and bookseller in Fleet Street, London, who printed the first editions of Gulliver's Travels in 1726. Swift arranged the publication by corresponding with Motte under the name of Richard Sympson (see letters). Motte was apparently so concerned with being charged with sedition for the content that he altered parts of the text to tone down some of the specific criticism. Swift badgered Motte to reinstate the text as he wrote it, but it was only through other publishers that he found any satisfaction. |
| Lord Munodi | Laputa; a lord of Balnibarbi to whom Gulliver is recommended after leaving Laputa; Munodi is out of favor because of his refusal to follow current fads, eschewing the services of a flapper and resisting, as much as possible, the pressures of scientific 'advances' and progressive ideas; Munodi's conservative ways have made for well-managed and thriving estates; he is subsequently despised and has been driven from a position of authority; Clark translates the name as "Midleton", thus identifying him as Alan Brodrick, 1st Viscount of Middleton; also translated as mundum odi ("I hate the world") and therefore potentially linked to Oxford or Temple, both men Swift respected who withdrew from public life. |
| Viscount of Middleton | Alan Brodrick (1660-1728); 1st Viscount of Middleton; Irish lord who held various administrative posts, including Lord Chancellor of Ireland at the time of Swift's Drapier's Letters. |
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