Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to spell
Participle: spelt; spelled
Gerund: spelling
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | spell |
| you | spell |
| he;she;it | spells |
| we | spell |
| you | spell |
| they | spell |
Perfect
| I | have spelt; spelled |
| you | have spelt; spelled |
| he;she;it | has spelt; spelled |
| we | have spelt; spelled |
| you | have spelt; spelled |
| they | have spelt; spelled |
Past
| I | spelt; spelled |
| you | spelt; spelled |
| he;she;it | spelt; spelled |
| we | spelt; spelled |
| you | spelt; spelled |
| they | spelt; spelled |
Pluperfect
| I | had spelt; spelled |
| you | had spelt; spelled |
| he;she;it | had spelt; spelled |
| we | had spelt; spelled |
| you | had spelt; spelled |
| they | had spelt; spelled |
Future
| I | will spell |
| you | will spell |
| he;she;it | will spell |
| we | will spell |
| you | will spell |
| they | will spell |
Future Perfect
| I | will have spelt; spelled |
| you | will have spelt; spelled |
| he;she;it | will have spelt; spelled |
| we | will have spelt; spelled |
| you | will have spelt; spelled |
| they | will have spelt; spelled |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | spell |
| you | spell |
| he;she;it | spell |
| we | spell |
| you | spell |
| they | spell |
Perfect
| I | have spelt; spelled |
| you | have spelt; spelled |
| he;she;it | have spelt; spelled |
| we | have spelt; spelled |
| you | have spelt; spelled |
| they | have spelt; spelled |
Imperfect
| I | spelt; spelled |
| you | spelt; spelled |
| he;she;it | spelt; spelled |
| we | spelt; spelled |
| you | spelt; spelled |
| they | spelt; spelled |
Pluperfect
| I | had spelt; spelled |
| you | had spelt; spelled |
| he;she;it | had spelt; spelled |
| we | had spelt; spelled |
| you | had spelt; spelled |
| they | had spelt; spelled |
Conditional
Present
| I | would spell |
| you | would spell |
| he;she;it | would spell |
| we | would spell |
| you | would spell |
| they | would spell |
Perfect
| I | would have spelt; spelled |
| you | would have spelt; spelled |
| he;she;it | would have spelt; spelled |
| we | would have spelt; spelled |
| you | would have spelt; spelled |
| they | would have spelt; spelled |
Imperative
| you | spell |
| we | Let's spell |
| you | spell |
Verbs similar to 'spell'
pell,
sell,
shell,
skell,
smell,
snell,
spall,
speel,
speld,
spelk,
Additional Information
Cf. Old English leornian (learn), pennan (pen), smellan (smell), spellian (spell) and spillan (spill).
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. "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.
2. 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”).
Verbs referencing "spell"
French
épeler, Maltese
spella, Albanian
flas, Ido espelar, Welsh
sbelio.
Sample Sentences
-
[...] her lips are apart; she seems scarcely to breathe; and her countenance, at first anxious, gradually changes to a smile, as she comprehends the lesson. She then holds up her tiny fingers, and spells the word in the manual alphabet; next, she takes her types and arranges her letters; and last, to make sure that she is right, she takes the whole of the types composing the word, and places them [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
[...] knitting or sewing, and will busy herself for hours; if she have no occupation, she evidently amuses herself by imaginary dialogues, or by recalling past impressions; she counts with her fingers, or spells out names of things which she has recently learned, in the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes. In this lonely self-communion she seems to reason, reflect, and argue; if she spell a word wrong with [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
[...] of her right hand, she instantly strikes it with her left, as her teacher does, in sign of disapprobation; if right, then she pats herself upon the head, and looks pleased. She sometimes purposely spells a word wrong with the left hand, looks roguish for a moment and laughs, and then with the right hand strikes the left, as if to correct it.
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
‘“ During the year she has attained great dexterity in the use of the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes; and she spells out the words and sentences which she knows, so fast and so deftly, that only those accustomed to this language can follow with the eye the rapid motions of her fingers.
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
He was as bold as a lion about it, and “ mightily convinced ” not only himself, but everybody that heard him; — but then his idea of a fugitive was only an idea of the letters that spell the word,—or at the most, the image of a little newspaper picture of a man with a stick and bundle with “ Ran away from the subscriber ” under it. The magic of the real presence of distress,—the [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
the word " prom " spelled out in pepperoni would make me cry, but here we are.
(Sidelined 2: Intercepted)