- Spelled
- Spell Spell, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Spelled}or {Spelt}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Spelling}.] [OE. spellen, spellien, tell, relate, AS.
spellian, fr. spell a saying, tale; akin to MHG. spellen to
relate, Goth. spill?n.e {Spell} a tale. In sense 4 and those
following, OE. spellen, perhaps originally a different word,
and from or influenced by spell a splinter, from the use of a
piece of wood to point to the letters in schools: cf. D.
spellen to spell. Cf. {Spell} splinter.]
1. To tell; to relate; to teach. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Might I that legend find, By fairies spelt in mystic rhymes. --T. Warton. [1913 Webster]
2. To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm. ``Spelled with words of power.'' --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
He was much spelled with Eleanor Talbot. --Sir G. Buck. [1913 Webster]
3. To constitute; to measure. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
The Saxon heptarchy, when seven kings put together did spell but one in effect. --Fuller. [1913 Webster]
4. To tell or name in their proper order letters of, as a word; to write or print in order the letters of, esp. the proper letters; to form, as words, by correct orthography. [1913 Webster]
The word ``satire'' ought to be spelled with i, and not with y. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
5. To discover by characters or marks; to read with difficulty; -- usually with out; as, to spell out the sense of an author; to spell out a verse in the Bible. [1913 Webster]
To spell out a God in the works of creation. --South. [1913 Webster]
To sit spelling and observing divine justice upon every accident. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
