Meanings
proper noun
- The dialect of English spoken during the reign of Elizabeth I of England.
Blends, also known as portmanteau words, are not an original part of English. That is, none occur in Old or Middle English, nor even in Elizabethan English, with the earliest known example being the rare and now obsolete term tomaxe, a blend of tomahawk and axe.
2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 10
Cite this entry
APA
Elizabethan English. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Elizabethan%20English
MLA
“Elizabethan English.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Elizabethan%20English. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Elizabethan English,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Elizabethan%20English.
Source: Elizabethan English on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.