William Shakespeare Language, Vocabulary and Dictionary
William Shakespeare Dictionary
HACK to become common HAGGARD a wild or unreclaimed hawk HAG-SEED seed or offspring of a hag HAIR course, order, grain HALIDOM holiness, sanctification, Christian fellowship HALL an open space to dance in HALLOWMAS All Hallows' Day HAP chance, fortune HAPPILY accidentally HARDIMENT defiance, brave deeds HARLOCK charlock, wild mustard HARRY to annoy, harass HAUNT company HAVING property, fortune HAVIOUR behavior HAY a term in fencing HEADY violent, headlong HEBENON henbane HEFT furnished with a handle: hence, metaphorically, finished off HELM to steer, manage HENCE henceforward HENCHMAN a page or attendant HENT to seize, take HERMIT a beadsman, one bound to pray for another HEST command HIGHT called
HILD held HILDING a paltry fellow HINT suggestion HIREN a prostitute HIT to agree HOISE to hoist, heave up on high HOLP to help HOME to the utmost HONEST chaste HONESTY chastity HONEY-STALKS the red clover HOODMAN-BLIND the game now called blindman's-buff HORN-MAD brain-mad HOROLOGE a clock HOT-HOUSE a brothel HOX to hamstring HUGGER-MUGGER secrecy HULL to drift on the sea like a wrecked ship HUMOROUS fitful, or, perhaps, hurried HUNT-COUNTER to follow the scent the wrong way HUNTS-UP a holla used in hunting when the game was on foot HURLY noise, confusion HURTLE to clash HURTLING noise, confusion HUSBANDRY frugality Management HUSWIFE a jilt
Interpreting Elizabethan / Shakespearean Manuscripts and Original Documents
Vital, but little known, information about the Elizabethan alphabet is essential when looking at copies of original manuscripts of the period - examples of which can be found in Shakespeare's ' First Folio '. Learning the alphabet used during the Elizabethan era will no doubt clarify many questions that the differences of the Tudor / Elizabethan alphabet have raised such as "Couldn't Elizabethans spell properly?" and "Why is there so much confusion with the letters 'u' and 'v' and 'i' and 'j' ?Shakespeare translations and understanding the real meanings behind some of the Shakespeare language in the great plays and sonnets can be difficult. And this is hardly surprising when the expressions and their meanings have been obsolete since the Elizabethan era!
