Shakespeare's word |
Meaning (in the sample usage) |
# |
Reference(s) |
Sample usage |
fadge |
turn out |
2 |
TN 2.2 |
How will this fadge? |
farm |
lease or let for an equivalent, as land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds |
12 |
Rich II 1.4 |
We are inforced to farm our royal realm |
fault |
usually in the modern sense, but also: break in the scent (hunting) |
250 |
Shrew Ind.
Lear 1.1 V&A 114 |
Silver made it good /At the hedge-corner, in the coldest fault? /I would not lose the dog for twenty pound. Do you smell a fault? Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have singled/ With much ado the cold fault cleanly out; |
fell |
galled, angry, melancholy |
142 |
Mids 2.1 |
For Oberon is passing fell and wrath |
fet |
fetch, get |
3 |
Henry V 3.1 |
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof |
fetches |
excuses, tricks, evasions |
1 |
Lear 2.4 |
They are sick? they are weary? They have travell'd all the night? Mere fetches; |
fleshment |
excitement, battle-heat, pumped up |
1 |
Lear 2.2 |
in the fleshment of this dread exploit |
flews |
pendulous or overhanging lateral parts of the upper lip of dogs, especially prominent in hounds |
1 |
Mids |
My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, / So flew'd |
fond |
foolish, (used only 3 times in modern sense, to be "fond of someone" ) |
75 |
Mids Rich III 3.4 |
out of breath in this fond chase For I, too fond, might have prevented this. |
foot |
To set on foot; to establish; to land |
Lear 3.3; Oth 2.1 |
there's part of a power already footed; Whose footing here anticipates our thoughts |
|
footed |
walked |
Lear 3.4 |
Withold footed thrice the old |
|
fret |
wear away, scrape out?
waste away; worry noun - part of a lute |
32 |
Rich II 4.3 1 HIV 1.2 Shrew 2.1 |
Till they have fretted us a pair of graves and he frets like a gummed velvet Twas a commodity lay fretting by you |
from |
away from |
Lear 2.1 |
I least thought it fit To answer from our home |
|
furnishing |
outward signs |
1 |
Lear 3.1 |
perchance these are but furnishings |
fustian |
wretched, (cheap cloth?) |
3 |
TN 2.5 |
A fustian riddle! |
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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