Shakespeare
pronunciation
How to pronounce Shakespeare in British English:
UK [ˈʃeɪkspɪər]
How to pronounce Shakespeare in American English:
US [ˈʃeɪkspir]
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- Noun:
- English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
Word Origin
- Shakespeare
- surname recorded from 1248; it means "a spearman." This was a common type of English surname (Shakelance (1275), Shakeshaft (1332)). Shake (v.) in the sense of "to brandish or flourish (a weapon)" is attested from late Old English Heo scæken on heore honden speren swiðe stronge. [Laymon, "Brut," c. 1205] Compare also shake-buckler "a swaggerer, a bully;" shake-rag "ragged fellow, tatterdemalion." "Never a name in English nomenclature so simple or so certain in origin. It is exactly what it looks -- Shakespear" [Bardsley, "Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames," 1901]. Nevertheless, speculation flourishes. The name was variously written in contemporary records, also Shakespear, Shakespere, the last form being the one adopted by the New Shakespere Society of London and the first edition of the OED. Related: Shakespearian (1753); Shakesperean (1796); Shakesperian (1755).
Example
- 1. Can they grasp the contours of shakespeare 's plots ?
- 2. Is this a shakespeare I see before me ?
- 3. Shakespeare had a shotgun wedding .
- 4. Etymologists blame william shakespeare for this .
- 5. The earl was shakespeare 's only known literary patron .