Spelling

How to spell spelling

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce spelling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does spelling mean?

1. nounThe way a word is written, that is, the particular sequence of letters that forms it.
2. nounThe skill or practice of writing words with their correct letters.

Spelling in a sentence

• The report was rejected because of one incorrect spelling.

• His spelling improved once he stopped relying on autocorrect.

• American and british spelling differ on words like colour and color.

• The app gives adults a daily spelling practice session.

Where does spelling come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word grows out of the verb 'spell', which reached English by two converging paths. There is the native Old English 'spell', meaning a story, message, or piece of speech, which survives faintly in 'gospel' (literally 'good story'). Alongside it came the Old French 'espeller', meaning to read out or name the letters of a word; that French verb was itself of Germanic origin, sharing the same ancient root about speech and telling. By the late Middle Ages the sense of naming letters in order had taken firm hold, and adding the gerund suffix '-ing' produced 'spelling' for both the activity and the particular arrangement of letters in a word. The doubled 'l' in the root is the small trap: it reflects the short vowel in 'spell' and is kept when '-ing' is attached.

How the word is built

• spell (to name or write the letters of a word)
• -ing (noun/gerund suffix)