name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
Shakespeare
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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General-American: /ˈʃeɪkspɪɹ/
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈʃeɪkspɪə/
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British, Southern, Standard: /ˈʃɛjkspɪː/
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British, Southern, Standard: /ˈʃɛjkspɪə/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: SH EY1 K S P IY2 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
A surname.
William Shakespeare, an English playwright and poet of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: the Bard, Shakey
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 3
William Shakespeare's works or media adaptations of his works.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, metonymically, uncountable
Examples
- He is reading Shakespeare.
- I'm surprised that even the allusion to Hamlet flew over his head. Even someone who barely knows Shakespeare might catch that one!
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 4
A place name:
A village in Perth East township, Ontario, Canada, named after the playwright.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 5
A place name:
A ghost town in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
Any form or style of language that is eloquent, especially in English; poetry.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
A playwright of the standing of William Shakespeare.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
To act or perform in a play of the works of Shakespeare.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: William Shakespeare, Shakspere, William Shakspere, Bard of Avon
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: dramatist, playwright, poet
History
Etymology
A common Middle English surname meaning spearman, corresponding to shake (“to brandish a weapon”) + spear.
Across languages
Translations
36 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: شَكْسْبِير (šaksbīr) — English playwright
- Armenian: Շեքսպիր (Šekʻspir) — English playwright
- Azerbaijani: Şekspir — English playwright
- Bashkir: Шекспир (Şekspir) — English playwright
- Belarusian: Шэкспі́р (Šekspír) — English playwright
- Belarusian: Шэксьпі́р (Šeksʹpír) — English playwright
- Bengali: শেক্সপীয়ার (śekśopiẏar) — English playwright
- Bulgarian: Ше́кспир (Šékspir) — English playwright
- Chinese Mandarin: 莎士比亞 /莎士比亚 (Shāshìbǐyà) — English playwright
- Chinese Mandarin: 莎翁 (Shāwēng) — English playwright
- Danish: Shakespeare — English playwright
- Esperanto: Ŝekspiro — English playwright
- Finnish: Shakespeare — English playwright
- French: Shakespeare — English playwright
- Georgian: შექსპირი (šeksṗiri) — English playwright
- Greek: Σαίξπηρ (Saíxpir) — English playwright
- Greek: Σαιξπήρος (Saixpíros) — English playwright
- Hebrew: שייקספיר (sheykspir) — English playwright
- Hindi: शेक्सपीयर (śeksapīyar) — English playwright
- Japanese: シェイクスピア (Sheikusupia) — English playwright
- Korean: 셰익스피어 (Syeikseupieo) — English playwright
- Latin: Shakespeārius — English playwright
- Latvian: Šekspīrs — English playwright
- Macedonian: Ше́кспир (Šékspir) — English playwright
- Marathi: शेक्स्पीयर (śekspīyar) — English playwright
- Nepali: शेक्सपियर (śeksapiyar) — English playwright
- Polish: Szekspir — English playwright
- Portuguese: Shakespeare — English playwright
- Russian: Шекспи́р (Šekspír) — English playwright
- Spanish: Shakespeare — English playwright
- Thai: เชกสเปียร์ (châyk-sà-bpia) — English playwright
- Turkish: Shakespeare — English playwright
- Turkish: Şekspir — English playwright
- Ukrainian: Шекспі́р (Šekspír) — English playwright
- Vietnamese: Sếch-xpia — English playwright
- Yiddish: שייקספּיר (sheykspir) — English playwright
Real reading context