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Added 4 October 2026

spell

/spɛl/ noun

In Latin: venēficium, cantiō, incantātiō Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about spell at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation.
A time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else).
it's my go
A period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition.
he was here for a little while

verb

Orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of.
How do you spell this word?
Indicate or signify.
I'm afraid this spells trouble!
Write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word).
He spelled the word wrong in this letter

Origin

From Middle English spell, spel, from Old English spell (“news, story”), from Proto-Germanic *spellą (“speech, account, tale”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to tell”) or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to speak, to sound”) with the s-mobile prefix. Cognate with dialectal German Spill, Icelandic spjall (“discussion, talk”), spjalla (“to discuss, to talk”), guðspjall (“gospel”) and Albanian fjalë (“word”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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