10 Old English Terms for Understanding Shakespeare Anon

Shakespeare’s writing is difficult to comprehend because English is traditional. Thousand years ago, there was another version of English that prevailed. Because the terminology is classic and the grammar is archaic, most of Shakespeare’s writings are difficult to comprehend, like Shakespeare’s anon. Literature freaks, on the other hand, are familiar with classic syntax and vocabulary, making it easier for them to comprehend old authors and poets.

If you want to be one of them, you’ll need to acquire a vocabulary that will make it easier for you to comprehend Shakespeare’s Great Novels. There are numerous words as well. If we look at their entomology, we can learn a lot about them. We learn that writers such as Shakespeare introduced these terms. Let’s look up some old English words that are no longer in use but are necessary to know if you want to read classic literature.

10 Old English Terms for Understanding Shakespeare

Following are ten common words to help you understand Macbeth or any other Shakespeare play easily. Many students face difficulty while reading classic literature because of the change in language and generation gap. Check out our latest post about What Are The 10 Longest Words In English!

Anon

Shakespeare used the term “anon” in Macbeth. He went by the name Anon, which signifies, “I’m on my way.” “I’m coming, I’m coming.” However, if you use the word anon now, you’ll get a lot of strange looks. Context tells the meaning of the word. However, in the context of Macbeth, Shakespeare’s anon signifies “immediately” or “soon.”

Later on, the phrase “See you anon” came to indicate “see you soon.” You can also use anon in certain contexts, such as I’ll reply to you anon, in which case it means I shall respond as soon as feasible. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare used this word in the context of soon. An anonymous reader describes this word as time which is not certain in the future.

Thy

Thy, thine, and thou are words that are commonly used in the writings of Shakespeare. If you want to understand his writings easily, you should learn the meaning of these words. These words are also used in the Bible, and till the 18th century, these were the famous words in English. Most of the people till 18 century who had the finest vocabulary in English used these words. Thy means “you,” and its second person is Thine, which is “your.” Thou were also a term for “you”. But Shakespeare used Thy as in ‘your.’ For example, thy Lord etc. These classic words are no longer usable. But an alert reader knows the meanings of classic terms as well.

Ho

Ho is weird if you use it today. But Shakespeare used it as “Hey.” If you address your friend with the word “Ho,” he might think that you are being aggressive with him, but Shakespeare, in his writing, used Ho as the meaning of Hey. It is highly recommended to not use this word among your friends because it sounds like the offensive word “hoe.”

There are other words that people use these days in sexualized context but in old times Shakespeare used them as normal vocabulary like “booty” means “treasure”. These are kind of new words for this generation but they are very old.

Thou

Darest thou is a term frequently used by Shakespeare. This time is also frequently used in the Bible as it is the verse in the Bible: “O dearest Jesus, what law hast thou broken.” The term Thou means “you”. Thee and Thou are very common terms in classic English. The 16th century was a golden time for classic English. That was the most blessed night for English. But the simple average reader would be frustrated today by reading these old words. If you like old poetry, then you must know these terms.

Art

You would wonder to know that the word art is not used by Shakespeare as in creativity. He used it as “are”. Very popular Lines of Romeo and Juliet are Romeo where art thou Romeo? This means where are you, Romeo? If you’re wondering that normal people in that time were also used to speaking like this, then your curiosity is genuine. Bad this is the finest classic English which is used by Shakespeare. Normal people did not speak like this; instead, their English was comprehensible.

Ay

Ay sounds very soothing and very aggressive at the same time. It is used in many languages to express different kinds of feelings, but Shakespeare used “Ay” as “yes”.

And listen to the command of any elder one or any master. The words that were used in the writing of Shakespeare’s anon were “Ay my master,” which means yes my master. In this play, the master called him so he said “Ay my master”. Another languages system is used to express sad or astonishing feelings. People who are old are more likely to use this expression to express their feelings.

Vile

In old English, while means something despicable. If you read classic please of Shakespeare you will encounter this word more often. This term also refers to the person who is dishonest or morally bad. Today we use the word ‘disgusting’ for the same purpose. The word vile refer to evil. This is the best way to describe any wicked person.

Wherefore

We have heard the words like therefore but have you ever heard the word wherefore? Yes, this word exists in all English and the writings of Shakespeare. He used to wear it for as why. To ask a question he used wherefore in his text. To enquire about the reasons ‘Wherefore’ was used in old languages. But in modern-day English, we do not use these kinds of words because they are old-fashioned.

Thinkest

Do you know Shakespeare had the largest vocabulary in the world? He invented many words and had many words in his memory from the old English dialect.

One of the methods he used to invent new words was to add suffix or prefixes in pre-existing words and make a new one. For example, the thing guest is his innovation of the old existing would think. The meaning is the same, but Shakespeare added his special flavor to the text by using this kind of word. There are many other words which he made the same way like speakers and sayeth etc. And if you’re thinking that these words are grammatically wrong then it is not true.

Hie

In old English, the verb hie meant to hurry or to fasten up something as it is clear by the word that this is a very British term. If you watch old movies or read novels in British English, then you must know this word.

Conclusion

The ability to mix words to form phrases and phrases to form sentences is a key element of the English language. This is it has evolved so much because it has a feature to absorb few words easily as done by Shakespeare anon. If we listen to the old English, it had its charm but in today’s world English has its charm, this is the beauty of languages they do not lose their delicacy. Even though with times new generation adds new words and they consider old words out of style.