Sunday, March 11, 2012

Unpopular or uncommon Shakespearean words


Affined or affin’d (adjective)
Usually: Related or connected.
Shakespearean: united or linked by affinity.
Origin: late 16th century, from Latin affinis 'related'.

To articulate (verb)
Usually: Adjective
1: having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently.
2: technical having joints or jointed segments.
Verb
1: pronounce (something) clearly and distinctly
2: [no object] form a joint
Shakespearean: to express concisely 'enter into articles;' and "articulated," to express 'set forth in articles'. To negotiate.
Origin: mid 16th century, from Latin articulatus, past participle of articulare 'divide into joints, utter distinctly', from articulus 'small connecting part'.

Attasked or attask’d
Shakespearean: taken to task.

Cadent
Shakespearean: dripping.
Origin: from the Latin word cadens, 'falling,' 'trickling,' 'pouring down,' Shakespeare invented ‘cadent’.

To beetle (verb)
Usually: [no object, with adverbial of direction] informal
Make one’s way hurriedly: the tourist beetled off.
Shakespearean: to indicate a cliff's summit that 'juts out prominently,' that 'projects' beyond its wave-worn base, like the head of a wooden "beetle" or mallet.
Old epithet: "Beetle-brows," as in 'prominent brows'.
Origin: Old English bitula, bitela 'biter', from the base of bītan 'to bite'.

Bubukles
Shakespearean: facetiously compounded the French word bube, a blotch or sore, and the word 'buccal' (pertaining to the cheek; Latin, bucca, the cheek), to signify a cheek-blotch.

Co-marts
Shakespearean: joint bargains, compact made together.

Co-mates
Shakespearean: co-heiress, co-partner etc.

Congreeing
Shakespearean: 1: agreeing with itself, in all its parts.
2: greeted each other, met together.
Verb
Convive: let us be convivial, let us feast together.

Crants
Shakespearean: a borrowing for flower crowns.
Origin: Shakespeare anglicised 'krans,' 'krants,' 'kranz,' and 'crance,' (Northern languages) meaning 'crown' or 'garland.'

Credent
Shakespearean: 1: quality commanding belief or credit.
2: easily to be believed or credited.
3: facilely believing or giving credit.
Origin: From the Latin principles credendus, 'to be believed or trusted,' and credens, 'believing,' 'trusting.'

Demuring
Shakespearean: looking demurely. Used with felicitous condensation.

Dispunge (verb)
Shakespearean: discharge as from a sponge.

Enactures
Shakespearean: 1: purposes put into action.
2: intentions enacted.

To force (verb)
Usually: Noun [mass noun]
1: strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
2: coercion or compulsion, especially with the use or threat of violence.
3: mental or moral strength or power.
4: [count noun] an organized body of military personnel or police.
Verb [with object]
1: make a way through or into by physical strength; break open by force.
2: make (someone) do something against their will.
Shakespearean: to reinforce. Provide with forces.
Origin: Middle English: from Old French force (noun), forcer (verb), based on Latin fortis 'strong'.

Fracted
Shakespearean: broken.
Origin: From the Latin word fractus, 'broken’.

To friend (now mainstream) (verb)
1: informal add (someone) to a list of friends or contacts on a social networking website.
2: archaic befriend (someone). [No object] (friend with) black English have a sexual relationship with: the woman got married and you still used to friend with she?
Origin: Old English frēond, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vriend and German Freund, from an Indo-European root meaning 'to love'.

Germins
Shakespearean: the principles of germination.

Immediacy
Shakespearean: 1: immediate authority from.
2: authority immediately derived.
3: representative authority directly delegated and not intermediately obtained.

Immoment
Shakespearean: 1: unmomentous.
2: of no moment or importance.

Impair (adjective)
Usually: Verb [with object]
Weaken or damage (something, especially a faculty or function): a noisy job could permanently impair their hearing.
Shakespearean: adjective for impure.
Origin: Middle English enpeire, from Old French empeirier, based on late Latin pejorare (from Latin pejor 'worse'). The current spelling is due to association with words derived from Latin beginning with im-
From the Latin impar, signifying 'unequal,' 'unsuitable,' 'unbefitting,' 'unworthy;' from the Latin imparatus, signifying 'unprepared,' 'unready,' 'perplexed,' 'entangled,' and from the English 'impairing,' as signifying 'injurious,' 'detracting.'

Incarnadine
Usually: Noun [mass noun]
A bright crimson or pinkish-red colour.
Verb [with object]
Colour (something) a bright crimson or pinkish-red.
Shakespearean: stain carnation-red colour
Origin: late 16th century: from French incarnadin(e), from Italian incarnadino, variant of incarnation 'flesh colour', based on Latinincarnare.

Incorpsed
Shakespearean: incorporated.

Indigest
Shakespearean: 1: a mass of confusion or disorder.
2: a chaos or chaotic state.
Adjective
3: unformed, shapeless.
Origin: From the Latin word indigestus, 'disordered,' 'confused.'

Intrenchant
Shakespearean: incapable of being cut.
Origin: From the word "trenchant," 'cutting.'

Irregulous (stronger than irregular)
Shakespearean: completely out of ordinary rule and order.
Origin: Combines the meanings of 'disorderly,' 'lawless,' 'licentious,' as well as 'anomalous,' 'mongrel,' 'monstrous'.

Jointing
Usually: Noun [mass noun]
1: the action of providing with, connecting by, or preparing for a joint.
2: an arrangement of joints.
Shakespearean: 1: combining conjointly.
2: joining confederately.

Mered
Shakespearean: 1: limited entirely.
2: confined absolutely.

Mirable
Shakespearean: wonderful, admirable.
Origin: From the Latin mirabilis, 'wonderful,' 'that which is to be admired at,' or 'marvelled at.'

Mistempered
Shakespearean: combines the meanings of ill-tempered and wrathful with those of misguidedly and misdirectedly wrathful.

Operant
Usually: Noun
1: An item of behaviour that is not a response to a prior stimulus but something which is initially spontaneous, which may reinforce or inhibit recurrence of that behaviour.
Adjective
1: Involving the modification of behaviour by the reinforcing or inhibiting effect of its own consequences.
Shakespearean: actively efficacious.
Origin: late Middle English: from Latin operant- 'being at work', from the verb operari.

Oppugnancy
Usually: Adjective
Opposing, antagonistic.
Shakespearean: warring opposition.
Origin: early 16th century: from Latin oppugnant- 'fighting against', from the verb oppugnare.

Palmy
Usually: Adjective (palmier, palmiest)
1: (especially of a previous period) flourishing or successful.
2: covered with palms.
Shakespearean: victorious and flourishing.

Plantage
Shakespearean: plants generally or collectively, all that is planted, vegetation.

Primogenitive
Shakespearean: the claims or right of the first born.
Origin: From the two Latin words primo, 'first,' and genitivus, 'that which is born with us.'

Primy
Shakespearean: 1: spring-timed.
2: early-blooming.
Shakespearean Origin: Shakespeare uses the word "prime" in the sense of 'spring,' 'early bloom.’

Propugnation
Shakespearean: power of defence.
Origin: From the Latin word propugnatio, 'defence.'

Relume
Usually: Verb
[With object] literary
Relight or rekindle (a light, flame, etc.)
Shakespearean: re-light, light again.
Origin: early 17th century: from re- 'again' + illume, partly suggested by French rallumer.

Reprobance
Shakespearean: combines the meanings of ‘arrivance’ and ‘iterance’.

Rigol
Shakespearean: circle or circlet.
Origin: From the old Italian word rigolo, a small wheel.

Rooky
Shakespearean: 1: abounding in rooks.
2: with trees in which the rooks build.
3: where there is a rookery.

Roted
Shakespearean: 1: retained by rote.
2: acquired by rote and held ready for conventional utterance.

Rubious
Shakespearean: ruddy or ruby red.
Origin: From the Latin word rubeus, 'ruddy,' and from the gem called 'ruby.'

Smilets
Shakespearean: attempted smiles, half smiles.

To stell
Shakespearean: 1: fixed.
2: graven.
Origin: partly in reference to "stell," 'a fixed place of abode,' and partly in reference to "stile," 'an implement used by artists'.

Stellèd
Shakespearean: 1: starry.
2: stationed in the firmament.
Origin: From the Latin stella, 'star' and partly in reference to "stell," 'a fixed place of abode.'

Supplyment
Shakespearean: continued supply.
Shakespearean Origin: Shakespeare fabricated the word "suppliance" to express concisely that which is supplied.

Unsisting
Shakespearean: unstill, never resting.
Origin: From the Latin sistere, 'to stand still.'

Virgined
Shakespearean: 1: held securely.
2: held sacredly and chastely and exclusively.


This list is thanks in part to Theatre History and The Oxford Online Dictionary. There were other sites but most meanings and origins came from these. I have condensed the meanings and listed them as you would find them in the dictionary (minus a few details for brevity) and kept the quotes out. If you would like to know more on the quotes I suggest looking at the Theatre History web page.


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