Shakespeare's word |
Meaning (in the sample usage) |
# |
Reference(s) |
Sample usage |
deal of |
quantity of, greatness of, superiority of |
17 |
Lear 2.2 1 HIV 1.3 1 HIV 2.4 |
And put upon him such a deal of man, / That worthied him, got praises of the king what a candy deal of courtesy this intolerable deal of sack |
delations | accusations | 1 | Oth 3.3 | but in a man that's just They are close delations, working from the heart That passion cannot rule. |
denay |
denial |
1 |
TN 2.4 |
My love can give no place, bide no denay. |
denier |
small French coin, 1/12th of a sou |
3 |
Rich III 1.2 |
My dukedom to a beggarly denier |
descant |
comment |
4 |
Rich III 1.1 |
and descant on mine own deformity |
deserving |
reward, merit, desert (noted here as a noun, more often as gerund/adj.) |
19 |
Lear 3.3 Oth 1.3 |
This seems a fair deserving, I confess me knit to thy deserving with cables of perdurable toughness |
diaper |
towel |
1 |
Shrew Ind. |
Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper |
dispatch |
|
74 |
Rich III 3.4 Lear 2.1 |
Dispatch, my lord; the duke would be at dinner: . . . he longs to see your head. messenger from hence attend dispatch |
draw |
draw to |
Lear 3.3 |
and must draw me That which my father loses; |
|
dread, dreadful |
terror, fear, awe reverential or respectful fear; awe |
112 |
Rich III 1.1 Rich III 3.1 Rich II 1.1 2 HVI 5.1 |
dreadful marches Well, my dread lord; so must I call you now Myself I throw, dread sovereign, at thy foot. A messenger from Henry, our dread liege, |
dulcet |
pleasing to the ear, melodious |
6 |
Mids 2.1 |
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath |
The most comprehensive work on this topic is Alexander Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon, a typical turn-of-the-century tome, carried out with Teutonic thoroughness. I wonder how the pre-computer-era scholars tackled projects like this; lots of index cards and infinite patience, I suppose.
Incredibly, the book provides EVERY instance of EVERY word, in context, used by Shakespeare. In any event, for anyone who really enjoys Shakespeare, it's fun to pore over this "volume of forgotten lore," read all the occurrences of "housewife", for example, and ponder the subtle differences of meaning from one usage to the next.
You can order the Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary by Alexander Schmidt (a Dover re-print, 1985) from Amazon.com:
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