Spelling

/ˈspɛlɪŋ/ noun

Definition

The act of writing or saying the letters of a word in order, or the way a word is written using particular letters.

Etymology

From Old French 'espeler' meaning 'to read letter by letter,' with roots in Frankish 'spella' meaning 'tale' or 'story.' Originally meant reading or telling out loud.

Kelly Says

English spelling is notoriously weird because it's a fossil record of pronunciation changes—'knight' and 'psychology' sound nothing like their spellings because English speakers stopped pronouncing the silent letters centuries ago.

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