Milton’s neologisms
Milton adored inventing words. When he couldn’t find the right term he just made one up: impassive, obtrusive, jubilant, loquacious, unconvincing, Satanic, persona, fragrance, beleaguered, sensuous, undesirable, disregard, damp, criticise, irresponsible, lovelorn, exhilarating, sectarian, unaccountable, incidental and cooking. All Milton’s. When it came to inventive wording, Milton actually invented the word wording.
Mark Forsyth, in The Etymologicon
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, John Milton, Mark Forsyth, The Etymologician.