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Shakespeare, William
     
Shakespeare, William
(1564-1616) an English writer of plays and poems, born in Stratford-on-Avon in England, who most people regard as the greatest of all English writers. His many famous plays include the tragedies Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear; the comedies A Midsummer Night's Dream Twelfth Night, and As You Like It; and the historical plays Richard III and Henry V. Many well-known English sayings come from Shakespeare's work, and he had a great influence on the English language and English literature. Shakespeare also wrote poetry, including the Sonnets, and worked as an actor at the Globe Theatre in London.
—Shakespearean adjective:
• a famous Shakespearean actor
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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