This week's theme
Words coined after Shakespearean characters

This week's words
dogberry
portia
timon
romeo
prospero

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(RO-mee-o)

MEANING:

noun: A man who is a passionate lover or seducer.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Romeo, the hero in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. While Shakespeare's play popularized it, the story itself originated in folklore and is much older. Earliest documented use: 1566.

USAGE:

"The square's scribes were once famous as stand-in Romeos, writing love letters. Sometimes, the same scribe would find himself handling both sides of the correspondence for a courting pair."
The Scribes' Lament; The Economist (London, UK); Nov 20, 2008.

See more usage examples of romeo in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: