Can you give me some examples of words coined by Shakespeare? PDF Print E-mail

It is difficult to say with any certainty who first coined or wrote down a word. Here is a selection of words common today which the Oxford English Dictionary acknowledges as coinages by Shakespeare (ie. they are first seen in the printed editions of his plays): accessible, amazement, assassination, barefaced, bedazzle, belongings, circumstantial, courtship, critical, dewdrop, downstairs, employer, epileptic, exposure, fairyland, fanged, fashionable, frugal, homely, impartial, ladybird, lament, leapfrog, majestic, moonbeem, paternal, puke, rant, reclusive, roadway, sacrificial, schoolboy, silliness, useful, vulnerable, watchdog, zany.

 
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