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Synonyms

spelling

American  
[spel-ing] / ˈspɛl ɪŋ /

noun

  • spellings
    plural
  1. the manner in which words are spelled; orthography.

  2. a group of letters representing a word.

  3. the act of a speller.


spelling British  
/ ˈspɛlɪŋ /

noun

  1. the act or process of writing words by using the letters conventionally accepted for their formation; orthography

  2. the art or study of orthography

  3. the actual way in which a word is spelt

  4. the ability of a person to spell

    John's spelling is good

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of spelling

1400–50; late Middle English (gerund); see spell 1, -ing 1

Vocabulary lists containing spelling

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The reserve for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever comes off the bench for the latter-day contenders, spelling for star Caitlin Clark and averaging a respectable eight points per game.

From Salon Aug. 9, 2026

Distributors are asked to provide the metadata for each individual song, which makes it possible for a bad actor to submit music using an existing artist's name, or one with a very similar spelling.

From BBC Jul. 27, 2026

Last week, the family was traveling to Montreal but was initially unable to board their flight because one of his daughters had a problem with the spelling of her name on her ticket.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 21, 2026

The white cloth that was draped over the jeans-maker’s logo was so thin that the coverup practically accentuated the block letters spelling out its name.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 27, 2026

I wrote the spelling words in my notepad and studied them as I worked.

From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez

The predictive text is supposed to learn your style and improve over time, but depending on the fixes you do or don’t accept, it can learn incorrect spellings in place of correct ones.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 29, 2026

The so-called invading force of my generation assimilated to the point where our kids are named Brandon and Ashley in all sorts of spellings.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 13, 2025

Other spellings of the name Mohammed and Mohammad also made the top 100 list for England and Wales.

From BBC Dec. 5, 2024

And because Jefferson's original moniker was spelled as Megalonyx, any other subsequent spellings of the name, like some that utilize the -onix suffix, are incorrect.

From Science Daily Mar. 26, 2024

It seems all the cities I have heard of, except Shanghai, have changed their spellings.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

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