spell.
Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
Meaning & usage
Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
He cast a spell to cure warts.
A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula.
under a spell
Speech, discourse.
Where this word comes from
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”).
To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.
To hanker or yearn (for something).
Where this word comes from
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”).
To write or say the letters that form a word or part of a word.
I find it difficult to spell because I'm dyslexic.
To read (something) as though letter by letter; to peruse slowly or with effort.
Of letters: to compose (a word).
The letters “a”, “n” and “d” spell “and”.
To clarify; to explain in detail.
Please spell it out for me.
To indicate that (some event) will occur; typically followed by a single-word noun.
This spells trouble.
To constitute; to measure.
To speak, to declaim.
To tell; to relate; to teach.
To notate or indicate a pitch, interval, or chord using a particular enharmonic spelling.
The note D♭ is spelled differently from C♯, even though they sound equivalent.
The way you spell a chord reflects its harmonic function.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English spellen, from Anglo-Norman espeler, espeleir, Old French espeller, espeler (compare Modern French épeler), from Frankish *spelōn, merged with native Old English spellian (“to tell, speak”), both eventually from Proto-Germanic *spellōną (“to speak”). Related with etymology 1. The sense “indicate a future event” probably in part a backformation from forespell (literally “to tell in advance”).
To work in place of (someone).
To rest (someone or something), to give someone or something a rest or break.
They spelled the horses and rested in the shade of some trees near a brook.
To rest from work for a time.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English spelen, from Old English spelian (“to represent, take or stand in the place of another, act as a representative of another”), akin to Middle English spale (“a rest or break”), Old English spala (“representative, substitute”).
A shift (of work); (rare) a set of workers responsible for a specific turn of labour.
A definite period (of work or other activity).
An indefinite period of time (usually with a qualifier); by extension, a relatively short distance.
A period of rest; time off.
A period of illness, or sudden interval of bad spirits, disease etc.
An uninterrupted series of alternate overs bowled by a single bowler.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English spelen, from Old English spelian (“to represent, take or stand in the place of another, act as a representative of another”), akin to Middle English spale (“a rest or break”), Old English spala (“representative, substitute”).
A splinter, usually of wood; a spelk.
The wooden bat in the game of trap ball, or knurr and spell.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English spel (“a thin piece of wood”), from Old Norse [Term?].
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.