spelling
spelling — noun
1. the ability or activity of putting the letters of a word in the right order when
the ability or activity of putting the letters of a word in the right order when writing or saying them
Rodrigo won the class spelling competition after studying for a whole month.
collocation: spelling competition
The teacher asked the children to practise their spelling by writing each word five times.
collocation: practise spelling
Lien's spelling improved greatly after she started reading before bed every night.
Good spelling is important when you write a job application email.
Henrik made several spelling mistakes in his essay because he did not check his work.
- orthography
formal or technical term for the spelling system of a whole language; much less common in everyday speech
常見錯誤
2. the particular set of letters that forms a word, or the accepted way of writing
the particular set of letters that forms a word, or the accepted way of writing a word
The word 'colour' has a different spelling in American English: 'color'.
spelling variant across varieties of English
Wei looked up the correct spelling of 'accommodate' because he was not sure it had two 'c's and two 'm's.
countable noun: the correct spelling of [word]
The dictionary lists two alternative spellings for this word, so both are acceptable.
Christopher checked the spelling of his name on the boarding pass before boarding the plane.
The correct spelling of the scientist's name is 'Mendel', not 'Mendle'.
用法筆記
This sense is countable — you can talk about 'two spellings' (two different ways to write the same word) or 'the correct spelling of a word'. It is common in dictionary entries and language-learning contexts.