Spelt

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈspÉ›lt/
• Rhymes: -É›lt

See spell

Alternative forms

• spelled US, Canada

Verb

1. (chiefly British)

   spelt

   (past of spell)
• 1590, William Shakespeare, , v 1Yes, yes; he teaches boys the hornbook. What is a, b, spelt
  backward with the horn on his head?

Usage notes

The form spelt may predominate over spelled in parts of North America with heavier English settlement since the 19th century. One such place is Utah.

From Middle English, from Old English spelt ("spelt, corn"), from Old Saxon spelta ("spelt"); or from Late Latin spelta ("spelt"), from Frankish *spelta ("spelt"); all from Proto-Germanic *spiltō, *spiltaz ("spelt"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pelbh-, *(s)pelbh-t- ("spelt, spelt meal"). Cognate with Old High German spelza ("spelt"), Modern German Spelz ("wheat-like cereal"), Dutch spelt ("spelt").

Full definition of spelt

Noun

1. A grain, considered either a subspecies of wheat, , or a separate species .

From Middle High German spalden, or Old Norse spald.

Noun

1. (dialect, Northern England, Scotland) A thin piece of wood or metal; a splinter.
2. (metalworking) spelter

Verb

1. (obsolete) To split; to break; to spalt.

Anagrams

• pelts, slept