The list below contains 582 terms and was compiled in 2017-2018. It results from cross-checking the 1475* words listed in the Oxford English Dictionary as first recorded in Shakespeare against the corpus of texts available in Early English Books Online. The list is, however, bound to shed some of its entries as further texts are digitised and as more exhaustive searches throw up examples of words in texts that antedate Shakespeare’s. It also includes a good number of terms (about 10%) that arguably merit disinclusion on the grounds of being compositorial errors or words appearing in co-authored works.

 

*Since compiling this list the OED total has dropped to 1470

​

Underlined words were already in use prior to Shakespeare’s usage of them, but although these precedents occupy the same word class, they have separate etymologies. For example, Shakespeare’s beetle (v.1) derives from the adjective beetle, but the earlier beetle (v.2) derives from the noun.

 

abrook (v.), abutting (adj.), acture (n.), adoptedly (adv.), adoptious (adj.), advertising (adj.), affectioned (adj.), agued (adj.), airless (adj.), allottery (n.),10 annexment (n.), anthropophaginian (n.), apathaton (n.), appearer (n.), appertainment (n.), arm-gaunt (adj.), aroint (v.), askance (v.), assubjugate (v.), attask (v.),20 attest (n.), attorney (v.), attributive (adj.),

 

back-swordman (n.), bail (v.), barber (v.), barful (adj.), barn (v.), based (adj.), baseless (adj.)30, bass (v.), batler (n.), batty (adj.), Bavian (n.), bawcock (n.), beached (adj.), be-all (n.), becomed (adj.), beetle (v.), behowl (v.),40 belee (v.), bemock (v.), Bergamask (n.), bescreen (v.), besmirch (v.), besort (n.), besort (v.), betrim (v.), betumbled (adj.), biddy (n.),50 birthdom (n.), blastment (n.), boggler (n.), bold-beating (adj.), bonnet (v.), bow wow (int.), bragless (adj.), brimfulness (n.), brisky (adj.), bubukle (n.),60 buck-washing (n.), budger (n.),  bully-rook (n.),

 

canary (v.), cannibally (adv.), carlot (n.), casing (adj.), casted (adj.), caudie (adj.), caudle (v.),70 cerement (n.), cern (v.), chaffless (adj.), chaliced (adj.), chapel (v.), chapeless (adj.), characterless (adj.), charge-house (n.), childness (n.), chirurgeonly (adv.),80 choir | quire (v.), choppy (adj.), cital (n.), climate (v.), clod-poll (n.), cloistress (n.), cloud-capped (adj.), cloy (v.), cloyless (adj.), cloyment (n.),90 cockled (adj.), cock-light (n.), codding (adj.), co-mart (n.), combless (adj.), compromised (adj.), compulsative (adj.), compunctious (adj.), conceptious (adj.), concernancy (n.),100 concupy (n.), confineless (adj.), congree (v.), congreet (v.), congrue (v.), conspectuity (n.), contentless (adj.), copataine (n.), correctioner (n.), corresponsive (adj.),110 corslet (v.), counted (adj.),  crack-hemp (n.), crank (v.), crestless (adj.), cubiculo (n.), cuckoo-bud (n.), curdy (v.), cursorary (adj.), cyme (n.),120

 

dead man’s fingers (n.), death’s face (n.), definement (n.), defunctive (adj.),  demi-puppet (n.), denotement (n.), deracinate (v.), derogately (adv.), dey woman (n.) , disbench (v.),130 discandy (v.), discase (v.), disedge (v.), disinsanity (n.), disliken (v.), dislimn (v.), disorb (v.), disproperty (v.), disvouch (v.), dobbin (n.),140 dominie (n.), dotant (n.), dower (v.), down-gyved (adj.), droplet (n.), drug (v.),

 

ear-piercing (adj.), earthbound (adj.), Edward [Edward shovelboard] (n.), eft (adj.),150 elf (v.), emballing (n.), embrasure (n.), empatron (v.), empiricutic (adj), emulate (adj.), enacture (n.), encompassment (n.), end (v.), end-all (n.),160 enmesh (v.), enridged (adj.), enschedule (v.), ensear (v.), enshield (adj.), ensky (v.), enswathe (v.), entame (v.), escot (v), eventful (adj.),170 evil (n), exceptless (adj.), exposture (n.), exsufflicate (adj.), extincture (n.),

 

fangless (adj.), fap (adj.), fat-witted (adj.), fedarie (n.), felicitate (adj.),180 festinately (adv.), fig (v.), film (v.), fishify (v.), fit (v.), fitful (adj.), fitment (n.), fixture (n.), fleckled (adj.), fleshment (n.),190 footfall (n.), forgetive (adj.), full-hearted (adj.), fustilarian (n.),

 

glaze (v.), glib (v.), gnarled (adj.), gooddeed (adv.), gratulate (adj.), gravel-blind (adj.),200

 

half-cheek (n.), hardock (n.), hatch (n.), headshake (n.), hedge-pig (n.), herblet (n.), hewgh (int.), hillo (int.), hinge (v.), hob, nob (phr.),210 hodge-pudding (n.),

 

immediacy (n.), immoment (adj.), immure (n.), impaint (v.), impair (adj.), imperceiverant (adj.), impleach (v.), importless (adj.), impress (v.),220 inaidable (adj.), inclip (v), incorpsed (adj.), infamonize (v.), inhoop (v.), injoint (v.), inscroll (v.), inshell (v.), insisture (n.), insultment (n.),230 insuppressive (adj.), intenible (adj.), intertissued (adj.), intrenchant (adj.), intrince (adj.), inventorially (adv.), invised (adj.), iterance (n.),

 

jaunce (n.), jaunce (v.),240 jaw (v.), jointress (n.), jure (v.),

 

kecksy (n.), keech (n.), kickie-wickie (n.), kingdomed (adj.), kitchen (v.),

 

lack-lustre (adj.), land-damn (v.),250 languageless (adj.), laughable (adj.), lethargy (v.), Lethied (adj.), lewdster (n.), lifelings (n.), looped (adj.), lovered (adj.), lune (n.),

 

malicho (n.),260 mansionry (n.), manus (n.), mappery (n.), marcantant (n.), masoned (adj.), meditance (n.), meered (adj.), mid-season (n.), militarist (n.), milk-livered (adj.),270 millioned (adj.), minimus (n.), misadventured (adj.), misdread (n.), misgraffed (adj.), mistership (n.), mobled (adj.), mockable (adj.), monster (v.), Moorship (n.),280 moraller (n.), mose (v.), mountain wind (n.), mountebank (v.), moulten (adj.), moy (n.),

 

nayward (n.), nayword (n.), near-legged (adj.), necessity (v.),290 noncome (n.), nonny (int.), non-regardance (n.), nook-shotten (adj.),

 

oathable (adj.), off-cap (v.), offering (adj.), old (adv.), old-faced (adj.), omittance (n.),300 oneyer (n.), operance (n.), opposeless (adj.), other place (n.), ouphe (n.), out-breast (v.), outbreathed (adj.), out-crafty (v), outdared (adj.), outdwell (v.),310 out-Herod (v.), outlustre (v.), outsweeten (v.), out-villain (v.), overglance (v.), overgreen (v.), overmounting (adj.), overname (v.), over-office (v.), overperch (v.),320 over-picture (v.), overpost (v.), over-red (v.), overripened (adj.), overscutched (adj.), over-size (v.), oversnow (v.), over-stink (v.), overteemed (adj.), overteeming (adj.),330 overweathered (adj.),

 

pajock (n.), pannell (v.), partner (v.), pash (n.), paying back (n.), pebbled (adj.), pellet (v.), pensived (adj.), peregrinate (adj.),340 persistency (n.), persistive (adj.), phantasim (n.), Philippan (adj.), phraseless (adj.), pignut (n.), pilcher (n.), pin buttock (n.), pioned (adj.), pleached (adj.),350 plighter (n.), plumpy (adj.), pole-clipped (adj.), portage (n.), posied (adj.), posset (v.), pouncet box (n.), preceptial (adj.), precipit (n.), precurrer (n.),360 predeceased (adj.), predict (n.), preformed (adj.), prenominate (v.), prenzie (adj.), prerogative (v.), preyful, primogenitive (n.), primy (adj.), property (v.),370 pugging (adj.), pupil-like (adv.), purr (n.), push (n.),

 

quatch (adj.), questant (n.), questrist (n.),

 

razorable (adj.), re (v.), reclusive (adj.),380 recountment (n.), rejoindure (n.), relier (n.), relume (v.), remediate (adj.), reposal (n.), reposure (n.), reprobance (n.), reputeless (adj.), restem (v.),390 resurvey (v), revengive (adj.), reverb (v.), reword (v.), ribaudred (adj.), rondure (n.), rooky (adj.), rootedly (adv.), rope trick (n.), rose-lipped (adj.),400 routed (n.), rubious (adj.), rug-headed (adj.), rumourer (n.), runnion (n.),

 

s' (adv.), scaffoldage (n.), scamel (n.), scissor (v.), scrimer (n.),410 scrippage (n.), seamy (adj.), sea-wing (n.), sect (n.), sedged (adj.), self-abuse (n.), self-assumption (n.), self-harming (adj.), self-killed (adj.), self-reproving (n),420 semblative (adj.), sessa (int.), shard-born (adj.), sharded (adj.), sheeted (adj.), should (n.), sickly (v.), sire (v.), sister (v.), sistering (adj.),430 skains mate (n.), skiff (v.), skyish (adj.), slab (adj.), sledded (adj.), sleided (adj.), slickly (adv.), slippered (adj.), slish (n.), small-knowing (adj.),440 smell-less (adj.), smirched (adj.), snail-slow (adj.), sneaped (adj.), sneaping (adj.), so-forth (n.), soil (n.), soiled (adj.), soldieress (n.), soliciting (adj.),450 solidare (n.), sortance (n.), spectatorship (n.), spelling (adj.), spilth (n.), sprag (adj.), sternage (n.), still-stand (n.), stitchery (n.), stranger (v.),460 strewment (n.), stricture (n.), subcontract (v.), successantly (adv.), sumless (adj.), superscript (n.), superserviceable (adj.), supervise (n.), suppliant (adj.), suraddition (n.),470 suum (n.), swoltery (adj.),

 

tallow catch (n.), tanling (n.), testern (v.), thoughten (adj.), threnos (n.), thumb-ring (n.), tirrit (n.), tod (v.),480 toged (adj.), torcher (n.), tranect (n.), triumviry (n.), twilled (adj.),

 

unaching (adj.), unaneled (adj.), unauspicious (adj.), unblowed (adj.), unbonneted (adj.),490 unbookish (adj.), unbreeched (adj.), uncandied (adj.), uncape (v.), unchary (adj.), unclaimed (adj.), uncolted (adj.), uncomprehensive (adj.), unconfinable (adj.), uncuckolded (adj.),500 uncurbable (adj.), undercrest (v.), unhaired (adj.), under-hangman (n.), under-honest (adj.), underpeep (v), under-skinker (n.), uneducated (adj.), unexperient (adj.), unfair (v.),510 unfathered (adj.), unfilial (adj.), unforfeited (adj.), ungenitured (adj.), ungravely (adv.), unimproved (adj.), unmeritable (adj.), unmitigated (adj.), unowed (adj.), unpanged (adj.),520 unpay (v.), unpinked (adj.), unplausive (adj.), unpolicied (adj.), unpossessing (adj.), unpregnant (adj.), unprofited (adj.), unprovoke (v), unqualitied (adj.), unrecuring (adj.),530 unseem (v.), unseminared (adj.), unsex (v), unshout (v.), unshrubbed (adj.), unshunned (adj.), unsisting (adj.), unslipping (adj.), unsmirched (adj.), unstooping (adj.),540 unswayable (adj.), untempering (adj.), untented (adj.), untimbered (adj.), untreasure (v.), unwappered (adj.), unwedgeable (adj.), unweighing (adj.), unwrung (adj.), uplocked (adj.),550 up-pricked (adj.), uprighteously (adv.), uproused (adj.), upswarm (v.),

 

vail (n.),vastidity (n.), versal (adj.), villagery (n.), visitating (adj.), vizament (n.),560

 

wafture (n.), wappened (adj.), war-proof (n.), war-worn (adj.), watch-case (n.), water thief (n.), water-rug (n.), wealsman (n.), weather-fend (v.), week (int.),570 well-forewarning (adj.), well-sailing (adj.), wenchless (adj.), whereuntil (adv.), white-handed (adj.), widowmaker (n.), windring (adj.), winter-ground (v.), wrinch (v.),

 

yellowing (adj.),580 young-eyed (adj.), yravish (v.)

​