Meaning

14 senses

  1. To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.

    verzaubern

    place under a spell

  2. (intransitive, sometimes, transitive)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.

    schreiben, buchstabieren

    произноси́ть по бу́квамproiznosítʹ po búkvam

    write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word)

  3. (transitive)Of letters: to compose (a word).

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

    bilden, ergeben

    писа́ть по бу́квамpisátʹ po búkvam

  4. (figuratively, transitive)To clarify; to explain in detail.

    Please spell it out for me.

    klarmachen, entziffern, auf gut Deutsch gesagt

  5. (transitive)To indicate that (some event) will occur; typically followed by a single-word noun.

    This spells trouble.

    bedeuten, vorhersagen

  6. To constitute; to measure.

  7. To notate or indicate a pitch, interval, or chord using a particular enharmonic spelling.

    The note D♭ is spelled differently from C♯, even though they sound equivalent.

    The way you spell a chord reflects its harmonic function.

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

    to spell the helmsman

    abwechseln, vertreten

    relieve (someone) from work by taking a turn

  9. (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.

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

  11. (UK, obsolete, slang)To hanker or yearn (for something).

  12. (obsolete, transitive)To read (something) as though letter by letter; to peruse slowly or with effort.

Examples

509 sentences

  1. How do you spell your name?

    Як пишеться твоє ім'я?

    ruКак пишется ваше имя?

    deWie buchstabiert man Ihren Namen?

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. How do you spell your family name?

    Як пишеться твоє прізвище?

    ruКак пишется ваша фамилия?

    deWie buchstabiert man deinen Nachnamen?

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. How do you spell your last name?

    Як пишеться твоє прізвище?

    ruКак пишется ваша фамилия?

    deWie schreibt sich Ihr Nachname?

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Please tell me how to spell your name.

    Будь ласка, скажи мені, як пишеться твоє ім'я.

    ruПожалуйста, скажите мне, как пишется ваше имя.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. I don't know how to spell the word.

    Я не знаю, як пишеться це слово.

    ruЯ не знаю, как пишется это слово.

    deIch weiß nicht, wie man das Wort buchstabiert.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

8 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
to write or say the letters that form a word:
to compose a word:
Deutsch
By meaning 6
put under the influence of a spell:
to write or say the letters that form a word:
to compose a word:
figuratively, to clarify:
to indicate that some future event will occur:
to work in place of someone:

Origin

From Middle English spell, spel, from Old English spell (“news, story”), from Proto-German

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”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

spells, spelling, spelled, spelled
Base formspell · to spell
3rd person singularspells
Present participlespelling
Past simplespelled / spelt
Past participlespelled / spelt

regular

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyspell
he, she, itspells

Past simpleLesson

all personsspelled

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave spelled
he, she, ithas spelled

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill spell

Phrasal verbs

2 phrasal verbs

Synonyms

27 synonyms
conjureC1bespellenspellspellbindbechatbecrybeglammerbewitchenchantenglamourensorcellforspeakglamourhex
to compose a word:compriseC1
to indicate that some event will occur:meanA1signifyB2forebode
Close in meaning
  • indicate or signify:import
  • orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of:spell out
  • write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word):write

Antonyms

1 antonyms
unspell

Word family

19 related words
Relatedspellerspelling
Derivedcounterspellspellmasterfingerspellforespellmisspelloutspelloverspellrespellspellablespellathonspell checkerspell doomspelldownspellospell-offspell outspell off

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

Collocations

8 patterns
  • spell your name
  • how to spell
  • spell my name
  • spelled the word
  • spelling errors
  • to spell your
  • lot of spelling
  • spelling mistakes

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
speedilyspeedometerspeedyspellboundB2spellerspellingB1spelt
spell — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto