Shakespeare

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Shakespeare

/ˈʃeɪkspɪɹ/ US
/ˈʃeɪkspɪə/ UK
/ˈʃɛjkspɪː/ British, Southern, Standard
/ˈʃɛjkspɪə/ British, Southern, Standard

Where it comes from

A common Middle English surname meaning spearman, corresponding to shake (“to brandish a weapon”) + spear.

proper noun Shakespeares · Shakespere · Shakspeare · Shakspere

countable, uncountable A surname. The name Shakespeare occurs from the 13th century on in the records of various English counties. The first Shakespeare as yet discovered in Warwickshire is one Thomas, a felon, who fled from the law in 1359. Toward the end of the fourteenth century there were landed Shakespeares at Baddesley, and th
countable, uncountable William Shakespeare, an English playwright and poet of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Similar: the Bard, Shakey
countable, metonymically, uncountable William Shakespeare's works or media adaptations of his works. He is reading Shakespeare.
countable, uncountable A village in Perth East township, Ontario, Canada, named after the playwright.
countable, uncountable A ghost town in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States.

noun Shakespeares · Shakespere · Shakspeare · Shakspere

uncountable Any form or style of language that is eloquent, especially in English; poetry. This may not be poetry, but in competition with "Ryan has good velocity and excellent location" it is pure Shakespeare.
countable A playwright of the standing of William Shakespeare. Caine, he said, might be a budding Shakespeare but in Shakespeare's time all it took to put on a play was a barn, a crude stage, […]

verb Shakespeares · Shakespearing · Shakespeared · Shakespere · Shakspeare

intransitive To act or perform in a play of the works of Shakespeare.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: shakspere, william shakespeare, william shakspere, guy, shakespearean, bacon, bard, folios, playwright, poet, dramatist, the bard, tragedian, versifier, genius, littérateur

Translations

Every language

name English playwright

Español	Shakespeare
한국어	셰익스피어 Syeikseupieo
日本語	シェイクスピア Sheikusupia
中文	莎士比亞 /莎士比亚 Shāshìbǐyà, 莎翁 Shāwēng
हिन्दी	शेक्सपीयर śeksapīyar
Português	Shakespeare
Français	Shakespeare
Ελληνικά	Σαίξπηρ Saíxpir, Σαιξπήρος Saixpíros
Русский	Шекспи́р Šekspír
Tiếng Việt	Sếch-xpia
العربية	شَكْسْبِير šaksbīr
עברית	שייקספיר sheykspir

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MLA

"Shakespeare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shakespeare. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Shakespeare. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shakespeare

Chicago

"Shakespeare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shakespeare.

BibTeX

@misc{shakespeare_2026,
  title = {Shakespeare},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shakespeare},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}