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Shakespearean Glossary

William Shakespeare

Let's face it, no matter how many times your English teacher rambles on about how cool Shakespeare is, his stuff isn't too easy to read. We're not talking about a few funny words, like in Doctor Seuss - we're talking Old English, which may as well be a different language. To help you get to the actual story behind those baffling words, Kidzworld's put together a cheat sheet for reading Shakespeare. Check it out!

Shakespeare's Vocab A - Z

Alas

An exclamation of sadness or regret.

Barn

No, it's not the thing that cows live in. In Shakespeare's time this was a child.

Abate

This is a multi-purpose word meaning either to shorten, to throw down or to dull the edge of.

Aim

A guess.

Bob

This isn't just a dude's name, Shakespeare used it to mean to strike something, or to insult someone or to get something from someone by insulting them.

Century

One hundred of anything.

Coil

What we would now call turmoil or a disturbance.

Cross

A piece of money or a coin.

Dig-You-Good-Den

Literally this means "give you good evening" but it really just means goodnight.

Don

To put on.

Enseamed

Fat, gross and smelly. Not a nice thing to call your friends.