by Patron Service Associate & Creative Content Coordinator Hannah
Every so often, a word gets stuck in my head, taking up residence for a day or so, alongside the occasional tune, lyric, or jingle. Recently, that word was Dushegubs, the name of a species of calculating, homicidal, tree-like beings from Sweep of the Heart by Ilona Andrews.*
But much to their indignation, this isn’t a blog post about Dushegubs. It’s about something bigger: the magic of a writer’s ability to invent words that land in a reader’s mind and mean something!
One of the most well-known examples of a writer who shaped new words to capture concepts, feelings, or humor that existing language couldn’t quite capture is William Shakespeare. Scholars credit him with the earliest known written examples of some 2,000 words. What’s fascinating is that Shakespeare’s made-up words often feel completely natural. That’s because many of these words were created using recognizable linguistic strategies.
One of the most common was combining existing words to form something new and precise.
- Eyeball (eye + ball) and bedroom (bed + room) were both first recorded in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Though the components would have been familiar, the combinations were new and almost immediately understandable.
Shakespeare also expanded English through prefixes and suffixes, transforming meaning with subtle shifts.
- Lonely comes from lone + -ly and appears in Coriolanus.
- Savage already existed, derived from the Old French sauvage and the Latin silvaticus (“of the woods”), but Shakespeare extended its use into forms like savagely, first recorded in Othello.
Fluent in Latin, French, and Italian, Shakespeare frequently borrowed and reshaped words, anglicizing them or recombining roots for expressive effect.
- Assassination comes from the Italian assassinare.
- Dexterously derives from the Latin dexter, meaning skillful.
Other authors followed similar paths. Charles Dickens is thought to have blended scrouge (to squeeze) and gouge (to cheat) when naming his 1843-character Scrooge, a name that has since become shorthand for a miserly person.
Meanwhile, Theodor Seuss Geisel—better known as Dr. Seuss—prioritized sound and rhyme. Words like wocketh, yuzz-a-ma-tuzz, and sneeches rely on phonetics and sound symbolism, and align with Seuss’ broader goal of helping young readers recognize sounds and patterns. Lerkim perfectly captures the lurking nature of the Once-ler’s shack in The Lorax. Grinch sounds unpleasant, grumpy, and sly before you even know who he is, let alone if you have any knowledge of the French word grincheux.
Interestingly, Dr. Seuss’ If I Ran the Zoo is often credited with the first printed appearance of the word nerd, though not in its modern sense. Unfortunately, National Word Nerd Day, an unofficial celebration of language, vocabulary, and wordplay, fell on January 9, so we’ll have to catch it next year.
Invented words are such a novelty! They interrupt our habit of skimming, forcing us to pause and decode, and I find that moment of engagement rewarding. Some invented words don’t stop at being memorable. They migrate out of our books and into everyday language to fill a gap or because they are simply too good to ignore. Like John Milton coining pandemonium in his epic poem Paradise Lost for the capital of Hell, combining Greek pan (all) and daimon (demon).
And then there’s J.R.R. Tolkien, a master of immersive world-building who didn’t just invent words, he built entire linguistic systems! Terms like hobbit, ent, and orc feel ancient and inevitable, even though they were newly minted. His words stick because they sound rooted, purposeful, and perfectly suited to the world they inhabit.
So, when a word takes up residence in your head, pause and enjoy it. Chances are, it was made with care.
*Dushegubs comes from the Russian dusha (soul) and the verb gubit (to destroy).
Recommended Reading:
- Will’s Words: How William Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk by Jane Sutcliffe
- Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones
- From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages ed. Michael Adams
- The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Exploration of “Proper” English, from Shakespeare to South Park by Jack Lynch
