# spell

Pronunciation: say "SPEL" /spɛl/

## Verb

1. To name aloud or set down in writing the letters that make up a word or a portion of one.
   - Simple: To say or write the letters of a word in the right order.
   - _The teacher asked each student to spell three words from the list._
   - _He reads well but spells poorly._
5. With out: to clarify something, or to explain it in detail.
   - Simple: To explain something very clearly, giving all the details. Used in the phrase spell out.
   - _The manual spells out the installation procedure step by step._
   - _She asked the agency to spell out exactly what the fee covered._
6. To point to a coming result, usually named by a single noun, as in spell disaster or spell trouble.
   - Simple: To be a sign that something will happen.
   - _Falling sales and rising costs spell disaster for the company._
   - _The new highway spells the end of the quiet neighborhood._
7. Of letters: to compose or form (a particular word) when taken in sequence.
   - Simple: To form a word: for example, the letters d-o-g form the word dog.
   - _Rearranged, the letters of 'silent' spell 'listen'._
   - _Lined up on the shelf, the alphabet blocks spelled a word that made the whole class laugh._
9. To put under the influence of a spell; to bewitch, fascinate, or charm.
   - Simple: To use magic words on someone, or to charm them completely.
   - _The enchantress meant to spell the entire court into a deep sleep before the king returned._
   - _Before she fled, the sorceress spelled the castle gates so that only her own children could pass through them._
10. To take over someone's work or duty temporarily so that person can rest.
   - Simple: To do someone's job for a while so that person can rest.
   - _A second nurse came in to spell her partway through the overnight shift._
   - _The two drivers spelled each other every four hours on the long haul to Denver._
12. To rest for a while from work, or to give a person or animal a rest. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To take a short rest, or to let a person or animal rest.
   - _We spelled at the top of the ridge before starting the descent._
   - _After a long season of racing, the trainer decided to spell the mare for a few weeks on a quiet farm._

## Noun

2. Words or a formula believed to have magic power, or the magical effect or influence they produce (cast a spell; under a spell).
   - Simple: Magic words that are meant to make something happen, or the magic power they have over someone.
   - _According to the legend, the knight wandered for years under a spell of forgetfulness._
   - _When the amulet shattered, the spell over the kingdom lifted at once._
3. A stretch of time of unspecified length, typically described with a qualifying word such as long or good; by extension, a fairly short distance.
   - Simple: A length of time, usually not exact, or sometimes a short distance.
   - _After a long spell of dry weather, the rains finally came._
   - _Their cabin sits a good spell beyond the last paved road._
4. A period spent doing a job or activity, such as a turn or shift of work.
   - Simple: A period of time spent doing a job or activity.
   - _She did a brief spell as a copy editor before moving into design._
   - _Each volunteer took a spell at the information desk during the festival._
8. A period of illness, or a sudden interval of low spirits or disease.
   - Simple: A short time when someone feels sick, weak, or upset.
   - _After her fainting spell at church, the doctor ordered a full checkup._
   - _He went through a spell of depression after losing the farm._
11. A period of rest or time off from work or activity.
   - Simple: A short time of rest when you stop working.
   - _The crew worked in shifts so everyone got a spell during the night._
   - _She took a well-earned spell after the harvest was finally in._
13. An uninterrupted series of alternate overs bowled by one bowler before being rested or replaced.
   - Simple: In cricket, a period when the same bowler keeps bowling without being changed.
   - _Anderson's opening spell of seven overs yielded three wickets for just twelve runs._
   - _The spinner bowled a long spell from the pavilion end through the afternoon session._
14. A splinter, usually of wood; a thin, sharp sliver broken from a larger piece. *(dialectal, Northern England)*
   - Simple: A thin, sharp piece of wood that breaks off a bigger piece.
   - _The carpenter winced and dug a spell out of his palm with a needle._
   - _Rough-sawn planks shed spells that worked their way into the men's hands._
18. The powerful pull a person, place, or thing has over someone, capturing their attention or emotions almost magically.
   - Simple: A strong power that a person, place, or thing has to attract you, almost like magic.
   - _Few readers escape the spell of her early novels, with their slow, dreamy summers._
   - _He had been under his charismatic boss's spell for years before he began to see the cracks._

## Verb

15. To read something laboriously, as though working through it letter by letter; to peruse slowly or with difficulty. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To read something slowly and with effort, almost letter by letter.
17. In old use, to speak, declare, or tell something to others. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In old use, to speak or tell something.

## Noun

16. Speech or discourse; a story, talk, or formal address delivered to listeners. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A speech, a story, or a long talk.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To constitute or amount to; to measure or add up to a given quantity.
- (noun) The wooden bat used to strike the ball in the traditional game of trap ball.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 9, 16, 18** — Old English spell ("news, story") became Middle English spell. Behind it is Proto-Germanic *spellą ("speech, account, tale"), which goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to tell" or "to speak." Icelandic spjall ("talk") and Albanian fjalë ("word") are related.
**Meanings 1, 5–7, 15, 17** — Frankish *spelōn passed into Anglo-Norman and Old French as espeler and gave Middle English spellen, which merged with spellian ("to tell, speak"), a native Old English verb. Both lines go back to Proto-Germanic *spellōną ("to speak"). The meaning "indicate a future event" probably owes something to forespell ("to tell in advance"), as a backformation.
**Meanings 3–4, 8, 10–13** — Old English spelian, meaning to represent someone or to act in place of another, became Middle English spelen. Old English spala ("representative, substitute") is related.
**Meaning 14** — From Middle English spele or spel ("a thin piece of wood"), perhaps from Old Norse or from Old English speld ("splinter"), and unrelated to the other spells.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/spell (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).