Rowleian

comparative more Rowleian · superlative most Rowleian · alternative Rowleyan

1. literatureOf or pertaining to the literary style and characters of plays by William Rowley (ca1585-1626), English playright.

   The style of which is neither Rowleian nor Shakespearean but a particular blending of both.

   1988, Ann Thompson, The Modern Language Review^(http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0026-7937(198810)83%3A4%3C945%3AWSA'BO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9), volume 83, number 4, page 945n

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   Tim [Bloodhound] shows many signs of being a typical Rowleian clown; he is a fat clown, judging from his joke about breaking his girdle.

   1991, Mark Dominik, “William Rowley”, in William Shakespeare and the Birth of Merlin, page 33

2. literatureOf or pertaining to the work of (fictional) poet Thomas Rowley, a pseudonym of Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770), English poet.

   Mr. Tyrwhitt's book on the Rowleian controversy, which is reckoned completely victorious, are all the novelties I have seen since I left town.

   1782, Horace Walpole, The Letters of Horace Walpole: Earl of Orford, page 319

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   Chatterton... also imparted to Barrett two Rowleian poems, "The Parliament of Sprites," and "The Battle of Hastings" (in two quite different versions).

   1898, Henry A. Beers, A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century

   Tyrwhitt pointed out that the Rowleian dialect was not English of the fifteenth century, nor of any century, but a grotesque jumble of archaic words of very different periods and dialects.

   1898, Henry A. Beers, A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century