spell
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: spĕl
ipa: /spɛl/
rhymes: -ɛl
Forms: form: spells
form: spelling
form: spelled
form: spelled
form: spelt
form: spelt
Etymology: From Middle English spellen, from Anglo-Norman espeler, espeleir, Old French espeller, espeler (compare Modern French épeler), from Frankish *spelōn, merged with native Old English spellian (“to tell, speak”), both eventually from Proto-Germanic *spellōną (“to speak”). Related with etymology 1. The sense “indicate a future event” probably in part a backformation from forespell (literally “to tell in advance”).
Senses: examples: text: I find it difficult to spell because I'm dyslexic.
glosses: To write or say the letters that form a word or part of a word.
raw_tags: with “out”
examples: text: "He'll do," said Bildad, eyeing me, and then went on spelling away at his book in a mumbling tone quite audible.
ref: 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick:
glosses: To read (something) as though letter by letter; to peruse slowly or with effort.
examples: text: The letters “a”, “n” and “d” spell “and”.
text: In Esperanto each letter has only one sound, and each sound is represented in only one way. The words are pronounced exactly as spelt, every letter being sounded.
ref: 2008, Helen Fryer, The Esperanto Teacher, BiblioBazaar, LLC, →ISBN, page 13:
text: Welcome to the League Aiming to Menace and Overthrow Spies!
You realize that spells “LAMOS”?
ref: 2006 March 13, Richard Clark, “The Dream Teens”, in Totally Spies!: Undercover, season 4, episode 1, spoken by Terrence Lewis and Tim Scam (Matt Charles and Michael Gough), Marathon Media, via Teletoon:
glosses: Of letters: to compose (a word).
examples: text: Please spell it out for me.
text: When we get elected, for instance, we get one of these, and we are pretty much told what is in it, and it is our responsibility to read it and understand it, and if we do not, the Ethics Committee, we can call them any time of day and ask them to spell it out for us[…]
ref: 2003, U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbel, Hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, →ISBN:
glosses: To clarify; to explain in detail.
raw_tags: with “out”
examples: text: This spells trouble.
glosses: To indicate that (some event) will occur; typically followed by a single-word noun.
examples: text: the Saxon heptarchy, when seven kings put together did spell but one in effect
ref: 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
glosses: To constitute; to measure.
examples: text: O who can tell / The hidden power of herbes, and might of Magicke spell?
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
glosses: To speak, to declaim.
examples: 1770, Thomas Warton, “Ode on the Approach of Summer” in A Collection of Poems in Four Volumes, London: G. Pearch, Volume 1, p. 278,
As thro’ the caverns dim I wind,
Might I that legend find,
By fairies spelt in mystic rhymes,
glosses: To tell; to relate; to teach.
Synonyms: sense: to indicate that some event will occur
word: forebode
sense: to indicate that some event will occur
word: mean
sense: to indicate that some event will occur
word: signify
sense: to compose a word
word: comprise
Derived terms: fingerspell
forespell
how do you spell this word
it doesn't matter what they say about you as long as they spell your name right
spell check
spell checker
spell doom
speller
spelling
spell it out
spellmaster
spello
spell-off
spell one's name
spell out
spell someone's name
spell things out
spell trouble