Shakespeare Invented Over 1,700 English Words

The Bard's reputation as a master wordsmith is well-earned, but the story behind his contributions is more complex than simple invention. Many of the more than 1,700 words credited to him were likely part of the spoken vernacular of Elizabethan England, but his plays represent their first known appearance in writing. The Oxford English Dictionary, the ultimate authority on the history of words, uses his published works as the earliest written evidence for terms like 'lonely,' 'eyeball,' and 'bedroom.' During this period, English was a dynamic and rapidly evolving language with few standardized rules, creating a fertile ground for linguistic creativity.

Shakespeare's genius lay in his playful and practical manipulation of language. He was a master of turning nouns into verbs (to 'elbow' someone), changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words that had never been used together before, and adding new prefixes and suffixes. He didn't just invent words from thin air; he skillfully repurposed and combined existing linguistic elements to perfectly capture a specific emotion, image, or idea for the stage.

This linguistic innovation extended beyond single words to the coining of phrases that are now deeply embedded in our everyday speech, such as 'break the ice' and 'wild goose chase.' Because his plays were immensely popular and among the first literary works to be widely distributed through the new technology of the printing press, his unique vocabulary and expressions reached a massive audience. This exposure helped cement these new terms in the English lexicon, where they have remained for over 400 years.