I am considering writing my lexicon entry on teeth. “Teeth” appears 48 times in the text, and “tooth” appears 13 times. What’s interesting to me about teeth is the way they always seem to be accompanied by adjectives: milkwhite teeth, rotten teeth, rat’s teeth, false teeth, smiling teeth, unwashed teeth, etc.

Teeth seem to play several roles in the text. They are indicators of health and hygine (hence the numerous mentions of washing and brushing teeth, or the lack there of – and Ireland is described by Mulligan as having an abundance of “rotten teeth and rotten guts.” Queen Victoria is “the old hag with the yellow teeth.”)

Teeth are also connected to animality (of both animals and people) – we learn of the cat’s “milkwhite” teeth, and of the champing of a horse’s teeth. We also encounter gnashing, grinding, and growling teeth, as well as bared teeth, but in human mouths.

Finally, there is the connection between teeth and potency/power – the idea of being defanged.

Another words I considered were “heresiarch” and “eleven.”