Word families

Shakespeare often refers to the heart. But he also uses this word to help create other words, such as unheart, heart-sore, and heartless. How many such derived words are there, and how are they used? Type HEART into the search-box and you will see.

We use the term word-family to identify the set of words that contain the same basic element. They will be part of a compound word (as in heart-sore), accompanied by a prefix (as in unheart) or a suffix (as in heartless), or used in different ways (e.g. as a noun and a verb). In this section we list all the words in the canon (in the modern English version) that have family resemblances so you can see which words Shakespeare exploited in this way, and which he did not. Words that are not included (such as the and Horatio) are described on the further information page here.

When there are several family members, we group them into themes, showing the directions in which Shakespeare used a word. Where these occur, they are listed under the main heading. The names of the themes, taken along with their family members, we hope are self-explanatory, but more illustration can be found on the further information page here.
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O
OAK
ACTION
OAR
OATH
ACTION
OATS
OB
OBDURATE
OBEY
INTENSITY
WEATHER
NOT
OBJECT [deny]
OBJECT [thing]
OBLATION
TIME
OBLIGATION
OBLIQUE
OBLIVION
INTENSITY
OBLOQUY
OBSCENE
OBSCURE
OBSEQUY
OBSERVE
PEOPLE
NOT
OBSTACLE
OBSTINACY
STATE
OBSTRUCTION
OBTAIN
OCCASION
OCCIDENT
OCCULTED
OCCUPY
TIME
OCCURRENCE
OCEAN
OCULAR
ODD
APPEARANCE
TIME
ODE
ODIOUS
ODOUR
PLACE
OEILLADE
O'ER
O'EREATEN
OFFAL
OFF-CAP
OFFEND
ACTION
PART OF BODY
PEOPLE
NOT
OFFER
PEOPLE
OFFICE
OBJECT
PEOPLE
OFFSPRING
OFTEN
FREQUENCY
STATE
OIL
STATE
OLD
APPEARANCE
PART OF BODY
PEOPLE
STATE
OLIVE
OLYMPUS
OMEN
OMIT
OMNIPOTENT
ONCE
ONE
ACTION
HIGHER
PEOPLE
STATE
ONION
TEARS
ONLY
ONSET
ONWARD
OOZE
OPAL
OPEN
PART OF BODY
PEOPLE
OPERATE
OPINION
OPPORTUNITY
OPPOSE
PEOPLE
STATE
NOT
OPPRESS
HEAT
PEOPLE
OPPROBRIOUSLY
OPPUGNANCY
OPULENT
ORACLE
ORANGE
PEOPLE
ORATION
PEOPLE
ORB
NOT
ORCHARD
ORDAIN
TIME
ORDER
NOT
ORDINANCE
ORDINARY
INTENSITY
ORDNANCE
ORDURE
ORE
ORGAN
PART
ORGULOUS
ORIENT
ORIFEX
ORIGIN
ORISON
ORNAMENT
ORPHAN
ORTHOGRAPHY
OSIER
OSPREY
OSTENT
OSTLER
OSTRICH
OTHER
AMOUNT
PLACE
STATE
TIME
OTTER
OUCH
OUNCE [animal]
OUNCE [weight]
OUPH
OUSEL
OUT
OUTBRAG
OUTBRAVE
OUTBREAK
OUTBREAST
OUTBREATHED
OUTCAST
OUTCRAFTY
OUTCRY
OUTDARE
OUTDURE
OUTDWELL
OUTFACE
OUTFLY
OUTFROWN
OUTGO
OUTGROW
OUT-HEROD
OUTJEST
OUTLAW
OUTLIVE
OUTLOOK
OUTLUSTRE
OUTPARAMOUR
OUTPEER
OUTPRAY
OUTPRIZE
OUTRAGE
OUTRIDE
OUTRIGHT
OUTROAR
OUTRUN
OUTSCOLD
OUTSELL
OUTSHINE
OUTSIDE
OUTSLEEP
OUTSPEAK
OUTSPORT
OUTSTAND
OUTSTARE
OUTSTAY
OUTSTORM
OUTSTRETCH
OUTSTRIKE
OUTSTRIP
OUTSWEAR
OUTSWEETEN
OUTSWELL
OUT-TONGUE
OUTVENOM
OUTVILLAIN
OUTVOICE
OUTWARD
OUTWEAR
OUTWEIGH
OUTWORK
OUTWORTH
OVEN
OVER
OVERAWE
OVERBEAR
OVERBLOW
OVERBOARD
OVERBOLD
OVERBOOTS
OVERBULK
OVERBUY
OVERCANOPIED
OVERCAREFUL
OVERCAST
OVERCHARGE
OVERCLOYED
OVERCOME
OVERCOOL
OVERCOUNT
OVERCOVER
OVERCREDULOUS
OVERCROW
OVERDARING
OVERDO
OVERDUSTED
OVERDYED
OVEREARNEST
OVEREYE
OVERFAR
OVERFED
OVERFLOURISH
OVERFLOW
OVERFLY
OVERFOND
OVERFRAUGHT
OVERFULL
OVERGALLED
OVERGLANCE
OVERGO
OVERGORGED
OVERGREAT
OVERGREEDY
OVERGREEN
OVERGROW
OVERHANDLED
OVERHANG
OVERHAPPY
OVERHASTY
OVERHEAD
OVERHEAR
OVERHOLD
OVERJOY
OVERKIND
OVERLABOURED
OVERLEAP
OVERLEATHER
OVERLEAVEN
OVERLIVE
OVERLONG
OVERLOOK
OVERLUSTY
OVERMASTER
OVERMATCHED
OVERMERRY
OVERMOUNT
OVERMUCH
OVERNAME
OVERNIGHT
OVERPARTED
OVERPARTIAL
OVERPASS
OVERPAY
OVERPEER
OVERPERCH
OVERPICTURE
OVERPLUS
OVERPOST
OVERPOWER
OVERPRESSED
OVERPRIZE
OVERPROUD
OVERRANK
OVERRATE
OVERREACH
OVERREAD
OVERRED
OVERRIDE
OVERRIPENED
OVERROASTED
OVERRRULE
OVERRUN
OVERSCUTCHED
OVERSEE
OVERSET
OVERSHADE
OVERSHINE
OVERSHOES
OVERSHOOT
OVERSHOWER
OVERSIGHT
OVERSIZE
OVERSKIP
OVERSLIP
OVERSNOW
OVERSPEND
OVERSPREAD
OVERSTAIN
OVERSTARE
OVERSTEP
OVERSTINK
OVERSTRAW
OVERSWAY
OVERSWEAR
OVERSWELL
OVERT
OVERTAKE
OVERTEDIOUS
OVERTEEMED
OVERTHROW
OVERTOP
OVERTRIP
OVERTURE
OVERTURN
OVERVALUE
OVERVEIL
OVERWALK
OVERWASH
OVERWATCH
OVERWEATHERED
OVERWEEN
OVERWEIGH
OVERWHELM
OVERWORN
OWE
STATE
NOT
OWL
AGE
TYPE
OWN
PEOPLE
OX
PART OF BODY
OXLIP
OYES
OYSTER
PEOPLE
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