A ElizabethanDrama.org A

Shakespeare’s Invented Words Project

The Letter A.

A Complete and Accurate Digest of
Words, Compound Words and Phrases
First Appearing in Shakespeare’s Works −
Or Not.

This Page:
CLASS 1 WORDS, COMPOUND WORDS and PHRASES:
Words, Compound Words and Phrases which appear for the first time in English letters in the works of William Shakespeare.

1. Table A1: list of Class 1 Words beginning with A.

2. Table A2: list of Class 1 Compound Words beginning with A.

3. Table A3: list of Class 1 Phrases appearing in the OED entry of a word beginning with A.

4. Table A4: list of Class 1 Idioms and Familiar Expressions which the OED does not give an individual entry for, but research suggests originated with Shakespeare.

5. Table A5: list of Class 1 Words which Shakespeare Revived, meaning they had been last seen in print in the 15^th century, before Shakespeare brought them back again.

________________________________________________

Table A1: Class 1 Words.
Words Which First Appear in Shakespeare’s Work.

	OED Word Credited to S.	Part of Speech and Definition	First Year Published and Work	Related Older Word(s)	Citation from S	Frequency
1	abrook	vb., endure, tolerate	1594, 2H6	brook (v)	Sweete Nell, ill can thy noble minde abrooke, The abiect people gazing on thy face	obs, rare
2	Academe	n., academy, place of higher learning	1598, LLL	academy	Our Court shalbe a lytlle Achademe.	4
3	acerb^1	adj., acerbic	1622, Oth	French acerbe, Latin acerbus; acerbly, acerbity	The food...shall be to him shortly as acerbe as the Colloquintida.	2
4	acture	n., acting, action	1609, Lov.Com.	act, acting, action	With acture they may be, Where neither Party is nor trew nor kind.	obs, rare
5	adoptedly	adv., by adoption	1623, MM	adopt, adopted	Is she your cosen?...Adoptedly, as schoole-maids change their names.	1
6	adoptious	adj., relating to adoption	1623, AWEW	adopt, adoptative	With a world Of pretty fond adoptious christendomes That blinking Cupid gossips.	obs, rare
7	affectioned(entry adj.2)^2	adj., full of affectation in style etc.	1623, 12N	affect, affectation	An affection'd Asse.	obs, rare
8	agued	adj., affected with ague	1623, Cor	ague	Faces pale With flight and agued feare.	2
9	aidance	n., assistance, aid.	1593, VA	aid	the heart hath treble wrong, When it is bard the aydance of the tongue.	2
10	airless	adj., stuffy, unventilated	1623, JC	air	Nor Stonie Tower...Nor ayre-lesse Dungeon.	4
11	all hid^3	n., the game of hide and seek	1598, LLL	all, hide	All hid, all hid, an olde infant play.	3
12	allayment	n., the act of allaying or subduing something	1609, TC	allay	If I could temporize with my affections…the like alayment could I giue my griefe.	2
13	allicholly	adj., malapropism for melancholy	1623, 2GV	n/a	Now my yong guest; me thinks your' allycholly.	obs
14	allicholly	n., malapropism for melancholy	1623, MWW	n/a	Shee is giuen too much to Allicholy and musing.	obs
15	alligator (entry n.2)^4	n., the reptile	1599, RJ	Spanish el lagarto	In the same an allegater hangs.	5
16	allons^1	int., let's go	1598, LLL	French word	Alone alone sowed Cockell, reapt no Corne.	2
17	allottery	n., allotment	1623, AYLI	allot, lottery	Giue mee the poore allottery my father left me.	1
18	annexment	n., that which is annexed	1604, Ham	annex	Each small annexment petty consequence Attends the boystrous raine.	rare
19	anthropo-phaginian^5	n., a cannibal	1602/23, MWW	anthropophagus	Heele speak like an Anthropophaginian to thee.	1
20	apathaton^6	n., an attribute	1598, LLL	epitheton	I spoke it tender iuuenal, as a congruent apethaton apperteining to thy young.	obs
21	appearer	n., one who appears	1609, Per	appear	This is your wife?...Reuerent appearer no.	2
22	appertainment^7	n., that which belongs to, appurtenance	1623, T&C	appertain	We lay by Our appertainments, visiting of him.	obs, rare
23	argal	adv., therefore, ie. a clumsy piece of reasoning.	1604, Ham	variation of ergo	He drownes not himselfe, argall, he..shortens not his owne life.	2
24	aroint^8	vb., avaunt, begone	1608, KL	?	O light and her troth plight and aroynt thee...	2
25	asinego	n., donkey, ass, ie. hence fool	1609, TC	Spanish asnico	An Asinico may tutor thee...	obs or dial
26	assubjugate	vb., to reduce to subjugation	1609, TC	subjugation, assubject	his thrice worthy and right valiant Lord, Shall not...assubiugate his merit..by going to Achilles.	2
27	attask^9	vb., to blame, taken to task	1608, KL	task (vb) = censure, reprove		obs, rare
28	attemptable	adj., that may be attempted	1623, Cyb	attempt	Vouching..his [Mistress] to be more Faire, Vertuous, Wise, Chaste..and lesse attemptible then any, the rarest of our Ladies.	?
29	attributive^10	adj., characterized by attributing	1609, TC	attribute	The will dotes that is attributiue.	4

Footnotes
1. acerb and allons:	these words appeared previously in printed works in England, but only in foreign language texts. Shakespeare gets credit for using them as "new" English words.
2. affectioned:	there are two separate entries for affectioned in the OED; the older word (adj.^1), describes one having affection in the sense of love or kindly feeling; there is a separate entry (adj.^2) for affectioned meaning "being affected in style or behaviour", and Shakespeare's quote is the first and only citation in this entry.
3. all-hid:	The context in which Shakespeare used the term all-hid ("All hid, all hid, an olde infant play.") suggests it was already in common use at the time Shakespeare employed it; but no other earlier use than Shakepeare's has yet been found.
4. alligator:	I am giving this one to Shakespeare. The word is derived from the Spanish term for the reptile, el lagaras; previous to the 1599 edition of Romeo and Juliet, the word that became alligator appeared in print originally as lagartors, and then alegarta in the 1597 edition of Romeo, before appearing as allegater in the 1599 Romeo. Close enough! The citation is from the 1599 quarto; the 1597 quarto printed Aligarta instead.
5. anthropophaginian:	The citation is from the 1623 folio; the 1602 quarto printed Antripophiginian instead.
6. apathaton:	though given its own entry, the OED notes apathaton is simply a variation on the older word epitheton, so it may be argued Shakespeare should get no credit here except for misspelling.
7. appertainments:	The citation is from the 1623 folio; the 1609 quarto prints appertainings here instead.
8. aroint:	possibly a genuine made-up word, as its origin is unknown.
9. attask:	a problem word; the two earliest quartos of King Lear print alapt, and the 1623 Folio prints at task, which was already an accepted expression meaning "to blame"; later editors determined that alapt was supposed to be attasked (or attaskt), even though it was not printed that way here, or anywhere, ever; the OED regardless gives Shakespeare credit for the single word attask.
10. attributive:	The citation is from the 1609 quarto; the 1623 folio replaced attributive with inclineable.

________________________________________________

Table A2: Class 1 Compound Words.
Compound Words Which First Appear in Shakespeare’s Work.

	OED Compound-Word Credited to S	Part of Speech and Definition	First Year Published and Work	Citation from S
1	action-taking	adj., litigious, prone to take legal action	1608, KL	A lilly lyuer'd action taking knaue.
2	after-eye	vb., follow with the eye	1623, Cym	Thou should'st haue made him As little as a Crow...ere left To after-eye him.
3	after-loss	n., something following as the result of a loss	1609, Son	And doe not drop in for an after losse.
4	after-meeting	n., a subsequent meeting	1623, Cor	It remaines, As the maine Point of this our after-meeting.
2	aglet-baby	n., a doll decorated with aglets	1623, TOS	marrie him to a Puppet or an Aglet babie…
3	ague-proof	adj., resistant to ague	1623, KL	I am not Agu-proofe.
4	air-drawn^1	adj., describing something pulled-out into the air	1623, Mac	This is the Ayre-drawne-Dagger.
5	ale-washed	adj., affected by ale	1600, H5	Alewasht wits.
6	All-Hallown Summer	n., Indian summer, a spell of fine summer in the late autumn	1598, 1H4	farewel Alhallowne summer.
7	all-licensed	adj.	1608, KL	This, your all-licenc'd foole.
8	all-praised	adj.	1598, 1H4	this all praised knight.
9	all-seer	n., one who sees all, an oracle, etc.	1597, R3	That high al-seer, that I dallied with.
10	all-shaking	adj.	1608, KL	All shaking thunder.
11	all-shunned	adj.	1623, TA	His disease, of all shunn'd pouerty.
12	all-telling	adj.	1598, LLL	All telling fame Doth noyse abroad.
13	all-watched	adj.	1623, H5	The wearie and all-watched Night.
14	alms drink	n., drink given as an act of charity	1623, AC	They haue made him drinke Almes drinke.
15	ape-bearer	n., one who carries a monkey for exhibition	1623, WC	he hath bene since an Ape-bearer.
16	arch-mock	n., the primary mock	1622, Oth	O tis the spite of hell, the fiends arch mocke.
17	arm-gaunt	adj., with gaunt limbs, or gaunt as a result of bearing arms in war	1623, AC	Did mount an Arme-gaunt Steede.

Footnotes.
1. air-drawn:	the OED lists this compound as the earliest example of air- used as a prefix in a "locative" manner, ie. describing the location of an action. To go through every example of air- in the pre-Shakespearean literature is prohibitively burdensome, so we will tentatively credit Shakespeare for this as well.

________________________________________________

Table A3: Class 1 Phrases.
Phrases Which First Appear in Shakespeare’s Work.

	OED Phrase Credited to S.	OED Entry in which the Citation Appears	Definition	First Year Published and Work	Citation from S	Frequency
1	note of admiration^1	admiration, def.3	an exclamation point (!)	1623, WT	The changes I perceiued in the King, and Camillo, were very Notes of admiration.	historical
2	affront with	affront, def.4b	to balance one thing with another.	1609, TC	That my integrity and truth to you, Might be affronted with the match and waight, Of such a winnowed purity in loue.	obs, rare
3	the game is afoot^2	afoot, adj.,def.2	something is on the move.	1598, 1H4	Before the game is afoote thou still letst slip.
4	take air	air, n.,def.8	to spread (information) about.	1623, 12N	Pursue him now, least the deuice take ayre.	obs
5	all for one and one for all	all, def. P24	used to express unity.	1594, Luc	In this ayme there is such thwarting strife, That one for all, or all for one we gage.
6	to live long on the alms-basket	alms-basket, def.2	to depend on what may be taken freely from others.	1598, LLL	O they haue lyud long on the almsbasket of words.
7	of great article	article, def. P3d.	describing something as of great importance.	1604, Ham	I take him to be a soule of great article.	obs, rare

Footnotes.
1. note of admiration:	The phrase point of admiration, also referring to an exclamation point, appeared in another author's work in 1611, which antedates Shakespeare's use of note of admiration.
2. the game is afoot:	is is worth noting an earlier variation of the expression, from 1586's Albions England, by William Warner: "ye hounds vncopled: the game rowsed a foote, and followed."

________________________________________________

Table A4: Class 1 Idioms.
Other Idioms and Familiar Expressions
Which Appear First in Shakespeare’s Work.

These include familiar expressions which do not
have their own individual entries in the OED,
but appear in the OED’s Shakespeare citations,
and which research subsequently confirms
first appear in Shakespeare’s works.

	Still-Common Idioms We May Credit to S.	OED Entry in which the Citation Appears	Citation from S	First Year Published and Work	Discussion
1	abrupt departure	abrupt, adj., def. 3a	My Lady craues, To know the cause of your abrupt departure?	1623, 1H6	The earliest extant appearance in print of this expression is from 1597's The Famous History of Chinon of England by Thomas Middleton ("yet least his abrupt departure might be a greater cause of his disgrace"); however, as S. was believed to have written 1H6 in 1592, he may have been its originator.
2	adopt a policy	adopt, vb., def. 7	Which for your best ends You adopt your policy.	1623, Cor	This is the first time a policy was described as being adopted in the written record.
3	dangerous adversary	adversary, n., def. 1b	His auncient knot of dangerous aduersaries…	1597, R3	The earliest extant appearance in print of an adversary being described as dangerous is from 1593's Newes from Spain and Holland by Robert Parsons and Henry Walpole ("...wil seeme one for the resisting of so vniuersal and dangerous an aduersary."). However, as S. was believed to have written R3 in 1593-4, he may have used the combination around the same time as these other authors did; and S. was the first to use the exact expression dangerous adversary/ies.
4	all filled up	all, adj., def. 1f (c)	It is all fild vp with guttes and midriffe.	1598, 1H4	This is the earliest extant appearance in the written record of this exact phrase.
5	miss an appointment	appointment, n., def. 4	For missing your meetings and appointments.	1602, MWW	This is the first time an appointment was described as being missed in the written record."
6	artifical tears	artificial, adj., def. 2	I can..wet my Cheekes with artificiall Teares.	1623, 3H6	The earliest extant appearance in print of tears being described as artificial is presumably from the 1605 quarto of Ben Jonson's play, Sejanus His Fall ("steepes his wordes, when he would kill, in artificiall teares.") (I cannot find a transcript online of the quarto to confirm this), and it also appeared in the 1616 folio of Jonson's plays (interestingly, "Will Shake-speare" appears in the list of actors of Sejanus!) However, as S. was believed to have written 3H6 in 1591-2, he may have used the combination around the same time, or even earlier, than did Jonson.
7	I thought as much	as, adv., def. P4b(b)	I thought as much, hee would be aboue the Clouds.	1623, 2H6	The combination thought as much with words other than I immediately preceding the expression appeared before S.; the earliest extant appearance of the exact phrase I thought as much is from 1594's play Edward II by Christopher Marlowe. However, as S. was believed to have writtin 2H6 in 1591, he may have been the first to use this exact combination.
8	attractive eyes	attractive, adj., def. 5	She hath blessed, and attractiue eyes	1600, MND	The exact wording attractive eyes first appears in S.'s MND, believed written in 1595-6. The description of eyes as being attractive did appear earlier, in 1592's Rosalynd, by Thomas Lodge: "especially such as take loue in a minute, and haue their eyes attractiue lyke ieate (ie. jet, meaning black)."
9	what fate awaits	await, vb., def. 5a	What fate awayt the Duke of Suffolke	1594, 2H6	The exact wording what fate await(s) first appears in S's 2H6, believed written in 1591. We do find in 1553 an earlier connection between fate and awaits, from Gawin Douglas' translation of the Aeneid: "the[e] in to plane the finale fate, awatis Turnus..."

___________________________

Table A5: Class 1 Revived Words.

These include words which appeared in print in the 15^th century,
but then disappeared from the written record,
until Shakespeare brought them back again.

	Word Revived by S	Part of Speech and Definition	Year Most Recently Used Before S.	Year First Published in S and Work	Citation from S and Discussion
1	are	n.1, the musical note A.	1450	1623, TOS	"A re, to plead Hortensio's passion; B mi, Bianca, take him for thy lord" No known appearance of this word for at least a century before Shakespeare used it in TOS.