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verb
a simple past tense and past participle of spell1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used with object)
1.
2.
(of letters) to form (a word, syllable, etc.): The letters spelled a rather rude word.
3.
to read letter by letter or with difficulty (often followed by out): She painfully spelled out the message.
4.
to discern or find, as if by reading or study (often followed by out).
5.
to signify; amount to: This delay spells disaster for us.
verb (used without object)
Verb phrases6.
to name, write, or give the letters of words, syllables, etc.: He spells poorly.
7.
to express words by letters, especially correctly.
8.
spell down, to outspell others in a spelling match.
9.
spell out,
a.
to explain something explicitly, so that the meaning is unmistakable: Must I spell it out for you?
b.
to write out in full or enumerate the letters of which a word is composed: The title “Ph.D.” is seldom spelled out.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English spellen < Old French espeller < Germanic; compare Old English spellian to talk, announce (derivative of spell spell2), Old High German -spellōn, Old Norse spjalla, Gothic spillōn
1250–1300; Middle English spellen < Old French espeller < Germanic; compare Old English spellian to talk, announce (derivative of spell spell2), Old High German -spellōn, Old Norse spjalla, Gothic spillōn
Related forms
spell·a·ble, adjective
un·spell·a·ble, adjective
Synonyms
5. foretell, portend, mean, promise.
5. foretell, portend, mean, promise.
noun
1.
a continuous course or period of work or other activity: to take a spell at the wheel.
2.
a turn of work so taken.
3.
a turn, bout, fit, or period of anything experienced or occurring: a spell of coughing.
4.
an indefinite interval or space of time: Come visit us for a spell.
5.
EXPANDa period of weather of a specified kind: a hot spell.
verb (used with object)
8.
to take the place of for a time; relieve: Let me spell you at the wheel.
9.
Australian. to declare or give a rest period to.
verb (used without object)
10.
Australian. to have or take a rest period.
Origin:
1585–95; (v.) alteration of earlier spele to stand instead of, relieve, spare, Middle English spelen, Old English spelian; akin to Old English spala, gespelia a substitute; (noun) akin to the v. (perhaps continuing Old English gespelia)
1585–95; (v.) alteration of earlier spele to stand instead of, relieve, spare, Middle English spelen, Old English spelian; akin to Old English spala, gespelia a substitute; (noun) akin to the v. (perhaps continuing Old English gespelia)
Synonyms
4. while, bit, piece.
4. while, bit, piece.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Spelt
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
spell
"work in place of (another)," O.E. spelian "to take the place of," related to gespelia "substitute," of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to spilian "to play" (see spiel). The noun meaning "indefinite period of time" first recorded 1706.
EXPANDspelt
O.E. spelt, perhaps an early borrowing from L.L. spelta "spelt" (c.400, noted as a foreign word), which is perhaps ult. from PIE base *spel- "to split, to break off" (probably in ref. to the splitting of its husks in threshing), which is related to the root of flint. The word
had little currency in Eng., and its history is discontinuous. Widespread in Romanic languages (cf. It. spelta, Sp. espelta, O.Fr. spelte, Mod.Fr. épeautre). The word also is widespread in Gmc. (cf. O.H.G. spelta, Ger. Spelt), and a Gmc. language is perhaps the source of the L.L. word.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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