spell

• enPR: spĕl, IPA^(key): /spɛl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

From Middle English spell, spel, from Old English spell (“news, story”), from Proto-Germanic *spellą (“speech, account, tale”), from Proto-Indo-European *spel- (“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”).

spell (plural spells)

1. Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers. [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: cantrip, incantation

   He cast a spell to cure warts.

2. A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula. [from 16th c.]

   Synonym: cantrip

   under a spell

   • 1962, Marty Robbins (lyrics and music), “Devil Woman”:

     Skies are not so black / Mary took me back / Mary has broken your spell

   • 2020, Deftones, The Spell of Mathematics:

     I believe your love has placed its spell on me

3. (obsolete) Speech, discourse. [8th–15th c.]

spell (third-person singular simple present spells, present participle spelling, simple past and past participle spelled)

1. To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 115, column 2:

     Vnchaine your spirits now with spelling Charmes,

   • 1647, George Buck, The History and Life and Reigne of Richard the Third‎, London, Book 4, p. 116:

     […] although the Kings Jealousie was thus particular to her, his Affection was as general to others […] Above all, for a time he was much speld with Elianor Talbot […]

   • 1697, John Dryden (translator), Georgics, Book 3 in The Works of Virgil, London: Jacob Tonson, p. 109, lines 444-446,

     This, gather’d in the Planetary Hour,

     With noxious Weeds, and spell’d with Words of pow’r

     Dire Stepdames in the Magick Bowl infuse;

   • 1817, John Keats, “To a Friend who sent me some Roses”, in Poems‎, London: C. & J. Ollier, page 83:

     But when, O Wells! thy roses came to me
     My sense with their deliciousness was spell’d:

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”).

spell (third-person singular simple present spells, present participle spelling, simple past and past participle spelled or (mostly UK) spelt)

1. (intransitive, transitive, sometimes with “out”) To write or say the letters that form a word or part of a word. [from 16th c.]

   I find it difficult to spell because I'm dyslexic.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To read (something) as though letter by letter; to peruse slowly or with effort. [from 14th c.]
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick:

     "He'll do," said Bildad, eyeing me, and then went on spelling away at his book in a mumbling tone quite audible.

3. (transitive) Of letters: to compose (a word). [from 19th c.]

   The letters “a”, “n” and “d” spell “and”.

   • 2008, Helen Fryer, The Esperanto Teacher‎, BiblioBazaar, LLC, →ISBN, page 13:

     In Esperanto each letter has only one sound, and each sound is represented in only one way. The words are pronounced exactly as spelt, every letter being sounded.

   • 2006 March 13, Richard Clark, “The Dream Teens”, in Totally Spies!: Undercover, season 4, episode 1, spoken by Terrence Lewis and Tim Scam (Matt Charles and Michael Gough), Marathon Media, via Teletoon:

     Welcome to the League Aiming to Menace and Overthrow Spies!
     You realize that spells “LAMOS”?

4. (transitive, figuratively, with “out”) To clarify; to explain in detail. [from 20th c.]

   Please spell it out for me.

   • 2003, U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbel, Hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, →ISBN:

     When we get elected, for instance, we get one of these, and we are pretty much told what is in it, and it is our responsibility to read it and understand it, and if we do not, the Ethics Committee, we can call them any time of day and ask them to spell it out for us […]

5. (transitive) To indicate that (some event) will occur; typically followed by a single-word noun. [from 19th c.]

   This spells trouble.

6. To constitute; to measure.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC:

     the Saxon heptarchy, when seven kings put together did spell but one in effect

7. (obsolete) To speak, to declaim. [9th–16th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     O who can tell / The hidden power of herbes, and might of Magicke spell?

8. (obsolete) To tell; to relate; to teach.
   • 1770, Thomas Warton, “Ode on the Approach of Summer” in A Collection of Poems in Four Volumes, London: G. Pearch, Volume 1, p. 278,

     As thro’ the caverns dim I wind,

     Might I that legend find,

     By fairies spelt in mystic rhymes,

• (to indicate that some event will occur): forebode; mean; signify
• (to compose a word): (informal) comprise

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”).

spell (third-person singular simple present spells, present participle spelling, simple past and past participle spelled or spelt)

1. (transitive) To work in place of (someone).

   to spell the helmsman

2. (transitive) 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.

3. (intransitive, colloquial) To rest from work for a time.

• spell off

spell (plural spells)

1. A shift (of work); (rare) a set of workers responsible for a specific turn of labour. [from 16th c.]
2. (informal) A definite period (of work or other activity). [from 18th c.]
   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.

   • 1975, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Tangled Up in Blue”:

     I had a job in the great North Woods / Workin' as a cook for a spell / But I never did like it all that much / And one day the ax just fell

   • 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:

     Despite his ill-fated spell at Anfield, he received a warm reception from the same Liverpool fans he struggled to win over before being sacked midway through last season.

3. (colloquial) An indefinite period of time (usually with a qualifier); by extension, a relatively short distance. [from 18th c.]
   • 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 24, in Dracula‎, HTML edition:

     Even Mrs. Harker seems to lose sight of her trouble for whole spells. [...] When he had spoken, Mina's long spell of silence made me look at her.

   • 1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 343:

     So after a short spell in the brass foundry the wisest course was to follow with a similar period in the steel foundry, where much important work was done, including the manufacture of centres for wheels.

   • 2020 June 17, John Crosse, “Thornaby's traction transition”, in Rail, page 65:

     [...] Class 37s became synonymous with the depot, and over the years more than a third of the class had a spell allocated to the shed.

4. A period of rest; time off. [from 19th c.]
5. (colloquial, US) A period of illness, or sudden interval of bad spirits, disease etc. [from 19th c.]
6. (cricket) An uninterrupted series of alternate overs bowled by a single bowler. [from 20th c.]

• → Welsh: sbel

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:spell.

From Middle English spel (“a thin piece of wood”), from Old Norse [Term?].

spell (plural spells)

1. (dialectal) A splinter, usually of wood; a spelk.
   • 1544 (date written; published 1571), Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions, of Shooting. […], London: […] Thomas Marshe, →OCLC; republished in The English Works of Roger Ascham, […], London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], and J[ohn] Newbery, […], 1761, →OCLC:

     To swadle a bowe much about wyth bandes, verye seldome dothe anye good, excepte it be to kepe downe a spel in the backe.

2. The wooden bat in the game of trap ball, or knurr and spell.

• northern spell

• Pells, pells

• IPA^(key): /spɛtl/

spell n (genitive singular spels, plural spell)

1. pity, shame
   • stór spell

     big shame

   • tað var spell

     it was a pity

   • spell var í honum

     it was too bad for him

From the verb spelle.

spell n (definite singular spellet, indefinite plural spell, definite plural spella or spellene)

1. Alternative form of spill

• spel (Nynorsk)

spell

1. imperative of spelle

• spel

From Proto-West Germanic *spell, from Proto-Germanic *spellą.

• IPA^(key): /spell/, [speɫ]

spell n

1. story

   Sæġe mē spell be hrānum.

   Tell me a story about reindeer.

   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans

     Ne wēne iċ, nū iċ lang spell hæbbe tō seċġenne, þæt iċ hīe on þisse bēċ ġeendian mæġe, ac iċ ōðre onġinnan sċeal.

     Since I have some long stories to tell, I don't think I can finish them in this book, so I'll have to start another one.

   • late 9th century, The Voyage of Ohthere and Wulfstan

     Fela spella him sæġdon þā Beormas, ǣġðer ġe of heora āgnum lande ġe of þām landum þe ymb hīe ūtan wǣron, ac hē nysse hwæt þæs sōðes wæs, for þon þe hē hit self ne ġeseah.

     The Bjarmians told him many stories, both from their own country and from the countries surrounding them, but he didn't know what parts were true, because he didn't see it himself.

2. news
   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans

     Þæt forme sċip ġesōhte land and ġebodode þæt eġeslīċe spell.

     The first ship reached land and announced the terrible news.

3. prose or a work of prose
   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy

     Þā hē þās bōc hæfde ġeleornode and of Lǣdene tō Engliscum spelle ġewende, þā ġeworhte hē hīe eft tō lēoðe.

     When King Alfred had studied this book and translated it from Latin verse into English prose, he converted it back into verse.

4. argument
   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy

     Iċ onġiete þæt iċ þē hæbbe āþrotenne mid þȳ langan spelle, for þon þē lyst nū lēoða.

     I see I've bored you with that long argument, since you want poems now.

• Spell and racu mean an argument as in a line of reasoning. For the sense "a debate, dispute, quarrel," ġeflit is used.

• lēoþ (“poem”)
• lēoþcræft (“poetry”)

• bīspell (“parable”)
• ealdra cwēna spell (“old wives' tale”)
• godspell (“gospel”)
• lēasspell (“fiction”)
• sārspell (“painful story”)
• sōþspell (“nonfiction”)
• spellian (“to talk”)
• wēaspell (“tale of woe”)
• wilspell (“welcome news”)

• Middle English: spell, spel
  • English: spell