spelt.
A grain, considered either a subspecies of wheat, Triticum aestivum subsp. spelta, or a separate species Triticum spelta or Triticum dicoccon.
Meaning & usage
A grain, considered either a subspecies of wheat, Triticum aestivum subsp. spelta, or a separate species Triticum spelta or Triticum dicoccon.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English spelt, from Old English spelt (“spelt, corn”), from Old Saxon spelta (“spelt”); or from Late Latin spelta (“spelt”), from Frankish *spelta (“spelt”); all from Proto-Germanic *spiltaz (“spelt”).
A thin piece of wood or metal; a splinter.
Spelter.
Where this word comes from
The noun is from Middle English spelt, from Old English spelt, connected with the verb. Compare speld and German Spelze (“husk”). The adjective is from Middle English spelt, probably a contraction of spelked, past participle of spelken (“to bruise (beans)”), itself of obscure origin. Compare Scots spilkings (“split peas”), the later verb, and perhaps also splet. The verb is probably from the adjective. Compare earlier spald, speld.
Of dried beans: pounded, crushed, or split.
Where this word comes from
The noun is from Middle English spelt, from Old English spelt, connected with the verb. Compare speld and German Spelze (“husk”). The adjective is from Middle English spelt, probably a contraction of spelked, past participle of spelken (“to bruise (beans)”), itself of obscure origin. Compare Scots spilkings (“split peas”), the later verb, and perhaps also splet. The verb is probably from the adjective. Compare earlier spald, speld.
To grind or crush (grain or pulses).
Where this word comes from
The noun is from Middle English spelt, from Old English spelt, connected with the verb. Compare speld and German Spelze (“husk”). The adjective is from Middle English spelt, probably a contraction of spelked, past participle of spelken (“to bruise (beans)”), itself of obscure origin. Compare Scots spilkings (“split peas”), the later verb, and perhaps also splet. The verb is probably from the adjective. Compare earlier spald, speld.
simple past and past participle of spell
Where this word comes from
From Late Middle English spelde (past tense) and spelled, ispeled, ispelled (past participles). The past tense reflects an early Middle English syncopation of spellede, while the past participle remained largely disyllabic until the general Early Modern English reduction of the -ed suffix. In both cases, once the medial vowel was lost, the final alveolar stop underwent phonetic devoicing after the sonorant /l/, resulting in the modern -t spelling. Compare dwelt, felt, and smelt. By surface analysis, spell + -t.
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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.