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

What happened in his case is there was an error in the spelling of his name. —Brian Mann, NPR, 10 Dec. 2025

The name seemed to change spelling in 1931 to honor the original postmaster, Dennis Wheatley, from the 1870 founding. —Arkansas Online, 4 Dec. 2025

In the post, the original poster (OP) explained that her boyfriend of three years had only just learned her middle name and the spelling of her last name. —Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025

Nowadays, John said Max plays in a rock band with other individuals with Down syndrome, held a job at Starbucks for some time and is currently opening up new avenues of communication via Spellers, which teaches spelling and typing to nonspeaking or minimally speaking people. —Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 1 Dec. 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