spelling

noun

spell·​ing ˈspe-liŋ 

1

: the forming of words from letters according to accepted usage : orthography

2

a

: a sequence of letters composing a word

b

: the way in which a word is spelled

Examples of spelling in a Sentence

The American spelling is “color” while the British spelling is “colour.”

The words “made” and “maid” sound alike but have different spellings.

Recent Examples on the Web

Those listeners familiar with Busoni’s transcriptions of Bach’s works will recognize Lim’s world, in which counterpoint sinks into dark pools of piano resonance, and Bach’s spellings are doubled to transform and broaden their sonic mass. —Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Mar. 2025

The 8th grader from West Glades Middle School says spelling bees are a nice stress reliever. —Clara-Sophia Daly, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2025

It has also been amended to correct the spelling of Hillary Clinton's first name. —Whitney Eulich, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Feb. 2025

This story was updated to fix a spelling error in the headline. —Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 19 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing spelling

• finger spelling
• reformed spelling
• spelling bee
• spelling pronunciation

Rhymes for spelling

• belling
• celling
• dwelling
• fehling
• felling
• gelling
• pelling
• quelling
• selling
• shelling
• smelling
• swelling

Kids Definition

spelling

noun

spell·​ing

ˈspel-iŋ

: the forming of words from letters

also : the letters composing a word