Technically, the old woman isn't referring to Mount Atlas, a volcano in Antarctica, but to the Atlas Mountains, a range of mountains that runs through Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. The inhabitants of this region, in her mind, stand in for all African peoples, and demonstrate her racism.

The phrase O che sciagura d'essere senza coglioni! is Italian for “Oh, what a misfortune to be a eunuch!” A eunuch is a man who has been castrated (or had his genitalia removed), typically by a religious official or owner who wanted to ensure the eunuch wouldn't be tempted by the women around them. This was especially common in harems, where eunuchs were required to protect the women in the harem but weren't allowed to engage in sexual relations with them.

Salah, one of the five pillars of Islam, dictates that every Muslim must pray to Allah five times per day at prescribed times, as mandated by the prophet Muhammad in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. Voltaire reminds us of the piety and discipline of this practice to contrast it with the horror and the bloodshed the Muslims inflict, thus building on the theme of religious hypocrisy central to the book.

A "scimitar" is a short, single-edged sword with a curved blade, traditionally used in Turkey and the Middle East and thus associated with Muslims, Moors, and those of vaguely Middle Eastern descent. As a pirate, the captain pirate is unlikely to have protected the old woman over the Princess, which suggests that, though he raped her, he has grown fond of her, as implied when he thought taking her virginity showed her "a great deal of honor."

Originally, the term "Moor" referred to a citizen of Morocco, but later came to mean anyone of a group of Muslim and African peoples who conquered Spain in the 8th century and built many mosques there during their reign. Eventually, the Moors were pushed down into the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, but the term Moor was still used to refer to dark-skinned people.

Africans were thought by racist, colonialist Europeans to be warlike and hyper-sexualized people. Often, Europeans used this belief that Africans would rape their women and slaughter their children to justify genocide and the subjugation of the African peoples. In this passage, we can clearly see the impact that these racist ideas have had on the international community.

Mulattoes are people of mixed-race descent, typically with one white and one African or African-American parent. Tawnies are people of a similar mixed-raced heritage with lighter, "tawny" or tan skin, in this case, likely a light-skinned African or someone of mixed Spanish and African descent.

Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif, the second ruler of the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty, known as the "Warrior King" in his country because he was an especially cruel tyrant with skill on the battlefield. He's alleged to have fathered some 800 children, over half of which were sons. After his death, his sons fought over the throne, though how many fought, and if this civil war was as bloody as the old woman suggests, remains unclear.

Notice that the old woman doesn't refer to the Princess of Palestrina as her mother, as would be natural in this situation. This evident lack of familiarity provides further proof that the old woman has been lying, while at the same time suggesting that she may well have been a maid of the Princess and experienced all the things she has described.

The Knights of Malta was a religious military order also known as the Knights Hospitaller or the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. In 1530, after years of having no headquarters, King Charles I of Spain gave them Malta, Gozo, and Tripoli, for the price of a Maltese falcon (a hunting bird) to be paid every year on All Saints' Day. The old woman mentions the Knights in order to seem worldly and give credence to her story.

Notice this abrupt use of the em-dash mid sentence. Voltaire uses it to indicate that the old woman intended to say something crass but instead chose to use the euphemism of "pipes" to indicate the male sexual organ in consideration of the innocence and youth of her companions.

The "gentry" was a class of nobleman and landowners often referred to as the landed gentry, or as gentlemen and ladies. In this context, the word is applied to the corsairs, who, being pirates, would not generally be considered gentry or even particularly high class. Thus, we should read "gentry" as "people," here used in a derogatory sense to mean "those people."

The phrase in articulo mortis is Latin for "at the point of death." Faced with almost certain death, the old woman's soldiers are praying for absolution from the corsairs, who are here referred to as a singular collective rather than as plural individuals.

The Pope doesn't technically have an army or soldiers, but is protected within the Vatican City and on missions by the Swiss Guards, a group of Swiss soldiers that watches over the Holy See, or the capital of the Catholic world, and (less famously) over some small foreign courts. Early Swiss Guards were typically mercenaries bought to protect the Vatican City and were thus prone to surrendering at the first sign of danger, as is depicted here.

Sallee is a Moroccan port that was once used as a headquarters for pirates, or "corsairs." A corsair was typically a privateer or sailor who attacked the boats of merchants or travelers. Given that Gaeta is a city in Italy not terribly far from Palestrina, the Sallee corsair would've had to be sailing unusually close to the Italian shore to board their little galley.

Also known as the Chair or Throne of St. Peter, this altar in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City is one of the most ostentatious altars in all of Italy: a giant, gilt bronze sculpture that towers over the priests and was once used by the Pope as a throne on which he granted people audiences.

A "bagatelle" is a trifle, or a thing of no importance. Given how much time the old woman has spent building up to this moment, it's hard to believe that she considers it merely a bagatelle. It is, instead, relatively unimportant compared to the other horrors she's suffered, as we will see in the rest of her story.

Opera "bouffe" is a style of opera that was prevalent in France in the late 19th Century. Opera "buffa" is a term that generally refers to the Italian comic opera, which was popularized during the Renaissance and is mistakenly called "opera bouffe" here. This kind of comic opera is in line with the "carousals" the old woman speaks of and to the general atmosphere of merriment at her wedding.

We typically see this phrase as "pomp and circumstance," referring to a showy or ostentatious display, often one of great self-importance, such as a marriage ceremony or graduation. As the daughter of the Princess, this pomp would've been expected and in no way "surprising," which calls the old woman's description into question.

In this context, "idolatry" means adoration or a kind of fierce romantic idolization between two lovers, while "transport" means emotionally resonant or powerful, a kind of love that transported the old woman and moved her in some way (likely into believing that this love would last forever). One could argue that both Cunegonde and Candide feel this kind of love.

The word "affianced" means engaged to be married. In the mid-18th century and in some parts of the world today, marriages were arranged by parents, and their children had little to no say in their spouses. These arranged marriages were often political in nature, functioning like treaties between two kingdoms or cities. In this case, that treaty would be between Palestrina and Massa Carara.

"Scintillation" meaning the action of sparkling or catching the eye's attention. The old woman claims that her eyes were so passionate (that "such flames darted" from them) that they were more attractive and riveting than the stars. This is an obvious use of hyperbole and should indicate to the reader that the old woman has been exaggerating throughout this entire passage.

The Venus de Medici, a marble copy of a bronze sculpture created in ancient Greece in the 1st Century BCE. It's currently housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Rome and, though not as famous as the Venus de Milo, is considered to be one of the models of classic Western ideals of beauty. Voltaire makes this comparison to the Venus de Medici in order to evoke sympathy from the reader.

Palestrina is an ancient Italian city just to the east of Rome. In 1630, it and its surrounding lands were bought by the Barberini family, one of the wealthiest Italian families of the time, who treated the city like a small kingdom and declared themselves princes and princesses. As the daughter of the Princess, the old woman would've been considered (within Palestrina, at least) royalty, which makes her current state all the more remarkable.

Voltaire, being a satirist, wanted to poke fun at organized religion, but didn't want to risk a charge of heresy by claiming that any real Pope had a bastard child. Pope Urban X, then, is a fabrication, the last Pope named Urban being Urban VIII, who died in 1644. Urban X, as Pope, shouldn't have had any children, and it's this hypocrisy and corruption that Voltaire addresses in the old woman's story.