April 2010

Notable Quotable: William Shakespeare

Traditionally, William Shakespeare's birthday is celebrated on what is actually the anniversary of his death: April 23. The dramatist and poet who died in 1616 is believed to have been born on or around April 23, 1564.

Shakespeare is quoted a remarkable 1800 times in the Unabridged – probably more than any other writer. His words also illustrate dozens of now-archaic senses of familiar words, giving us a fascinating view of how the language changes over time.

Interested in seeing citations from a particular author? It's easy. Select the Collegiate or the Unabridged as your reference. Click on Advanced Search, and type the surname in the Author box, then click on Search.

breeding noun, archaic meaning: education
"she had her breeding at my father's charge"

butt noun, archaic meaning: goal
"here is my journey's end, here is my butt"

eternal adjective, archaic meaning: infernal
"some eternal villain...devised this slander"

forbid adjective, archaic meaning: accursed
"he shall live a man forbid"

mold noun, archaic meaning: earth that is the substance
of the human body
"be merciful great Duke to men of mold"

must verb, archaic meaning: ought to go, is obliged to go
"I must to Coventry"

scotch verb, archaic meaning: cut, gash, score, also wound
"scotched the snake, not killed it"

sect noun, archaic meaning: sex
"so is all her sect"

shall verb, archaic meaning: will go
"he to England shall along with you"

swelter verb, archaic meaning: exude
"sweltered venom"

where adverb, archaic meaning: here, there
"lo, where it comes again"


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