spell
/spɛl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms spells spelling spelled spelt
- noun Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers. “He cast a spell to cure warts.”
- noun A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula. “under a spell”
- noun (obsolete) Speech, discourse.
- verb To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.
- verb (UK, slang, obsolete) To hanker or yearn (for something).
- verb (intransitive, transitive, sometimes with “out”) 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.”
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To read (something) as though letter by letter; to peruse slowly or with effort.
- verb (transitive) Of letters: to compose (a word). “The letters “a”, “n” and “d” spell “and”.”
- verb (transitive, figuratively, with “out”) To clarify; to explain in detail. “Please spell it out for me.”
- verb (transitive) To indicate that (some event) will occur; typically followed by a single-word noun. “This spells trouble.”
- verb To constitute; to measure.
- verb (obsolete) To speak, to declaim.
- verb (obsolete) To tell; to relate; to teach.
- verb (transitive) To work in place of (someone).
- verb (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.”
- verb (intransitive, colloquial) To rest from work for a time.
- noun A shift (of work); (rare) a set of workers responsible for a specific turn of labour.
- noun (informal) A definite period (of work or other activity).
- noun (colloquial) An indefinite period of time (usually with a qualifier); by extension, a relatively short distance.
- noun A period of rest; time off.
Synonyms
cantrip incantation chantment charm conjuration craft dwimmer enchantment hex magic magic spell makutu mojo obeah pishogue rune spellword wanga curse bespell trance go tour turn while piece patch magical spell spell out import
Antonyms
Etymology
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”).
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”).
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”).
From Middle English spel (“a thin piece of wood”), from Old Norse [Term?].
Webster’s 1913
- noun A spelk, or splinter. [Obs.] Holland.
- verb To supply the place of for a time; to take the turn of, at work; to relieve; as, to spell the helmsman.
- noun The relief of one person by another in any piece of work or wathing; also, a turn at work which is carried on by one person or gang relieving another; as, a spellat the pumps; a spell at the masthead.
- noun The time during which one person or gang works until relieved; hence, any relatively short period of time, whether a few hours, days, or weeks.
Etymology [OE. speld, AS. speld a spill to light a candle with; akin to D. speld a pin, OD. spelle, G. spalten to split, OHG. spaltan, MHG. spelte a splinter, Icel. spjald a square tablet, Goth. spilda a writing tablet. Cf. Spillsplinter, roll of paper, Spell to tell the letters of.]
Etymology [AS. spelian to supply another's place.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “spell”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details