Did William Shakespeare invent the word "alone"? I remember hearing this, but I'm not sure if its true.

Answer 1

The word "alone" predates William Shakespeare by about 2 centuries. The word came about about around the year 1300 AD as a contraction of the Old English "all ana," meaning "all by oneself."

Answer 2

"Alone" predates Shakespeare and came into Modern English from Old English through Middle English.

While it is probable that Shakespeare invented a few words it is unlikely he invented many. There is not much point in a popular playwright using words that will not be understood by his audience.

Dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary verify the words they put in the dictionary by their appearance in written English. There is not a lot of written Englsh that survives from Shakespeare's day. Ben Jonson and the King James Bible were just after Shakespeare. Marlowe was a contemporary but he died young before he could write many plays.

Consequently, the first recording in writing of many words is in Shakespeare's work. It is more than likely, however, that the words were in common use or had appeared in work written before Shakespeare that no longer exists.

Answer 3

That is one I haven't heard before. But, Wikipedia has a long list of words that Shakespeare invented. I didn't see alone in it, but here is the link. Check it out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_invented_by_Shakespeare