spell
verb
- to write or say the letters that form a word
- to be able to write or say the letters that form words
- of letters, to compose a word
- to indicate that some event will occur
- to put under the influence of a spell
- to work in place of someone
- to rest something or something
- sequence of letters
noun
- set of words, spoken or unspoken, to invoke some magical effect
- brief period of time
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /spɛl/
name
Etymology: From the German surname, perhaps related to Speller.
- A surname.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English spel (“a thin piece of wood”), from Old Norse [Term?].
- A splinter, usually of wood; a spelk.
“To swadle a bowe much about wyth bandes, verye seldome dothe anye good, excepte it be to kepe downe a spel in the backe.”
- The wooden bat in the game of trap ball, or knurr and spell.
verb
Etymology: 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”).
- To work in place of (someone).
“to spell the helmsman”
- 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.”
- To rest from work for a time.