authors who created words

Thomas Browne (1605-1682) – 771 “first use” words, including “carnivorous,” “hallucination,” and “ferocious.” The Oxford English Dictionary says it doesn’t necessarily mean he invented them.

John Milton (1608-1674) – 630 new words and phrases, including “debauchery,” “fragrance,” and “pandemonium.” Paradise Lost is where you will find Pandemonium, the name of Hell’s capital city.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) – 500 words (slightly fewer).

Most scholars believe Browne’s and Shakespeare’s “new word” contributions are much lower than Milton’s. The history of language is tricky, and it’s extremely difficult to know if a writer created a new word from scratch or was the first to use an existing word.

Other contributors are Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340-1400), John Donne (1572-1631), and Ben Jonson (c. 1572-c. 1637), not to be confused with Samuel Johnson, who compiled the first definitive English dictionary in 1775.
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My student, Alexander, created “blastfloome” and “mugglewart,” and I created “applescent” and “picturescent.” Don’t steal them.