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2017 Br t sh and Amer can spell ng | Oxford D ct onar es

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DICTIONARY Type word or phrase

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W O R D O F T H E D AY

ecossaise
NOUN

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Home Spelling di erences and changes Spelling British and
American spelling

British and American

spelling
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British and American spelling

13 foreign words that sound rude in

English

There are several areas in which British and

American spelling are di erent. The di erences
often come about because British English has
tended to keep the spelling of words it has
absorbed from other languages (e.g. French),
while American English has adapted the Unusual words with surprising
spelling to re ect the way that the words meanings
actually sound when they're spoken.

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If you're writing for British readers, you should

Type
DICTIONARY only use British word In
spellings. orone
phrase
or two cases, MENU
the preferred American spellings are
acceptable in British English as well, especially
the -ize/-ization endings. While you can use
both the -ise/-isation or the -ize/ization endings 12 synonyms for fool
in British English, it's important to stick to one
style or the other throughout the same piece
of writing. Wild Cats
Which of the following is a type of
Here are the main ways in which British and
wild cat?
American spelling are di erent.

caracal
Words ending in re
calico
British English words that end in -re often end
in -er in American English: NEXT 0/10

British US
TRENDING WORDS
centre center
Most popular in the world
bre ber

litre liter 1. BF
theatre theater or theatre 2. translate
3. Hindi
4. translation
Words ending in -our 5. Telugu
British English words ending in -our usually end
in -or in American English:

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humour humor

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Words ending in -ize or -ise

Verbs in British English that can be spelled with
either -ize or -ise at the end are always spelled
with -ize at the end in American English:

British US

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apologize or apologise apologize

DICTIONARY organize orType word or
organise phrase
organize MENU

recognize or recognise recognize

Words ending in -yse

Verbs in British English that end in -yse are
always spelled -yze in American English:

British US

analyse analyze

breathalyse breathalyze

paralyse paralyze

Words ending in a vowel plus l

In British spelling, verbs ending in a vowel plus
l double the l when adding endings that begin
with a vowel. In American English, the l is not
doubled:

British US

travel travel

travelled traveled

travelling traveling

traveller traveler

fuel fuel

fuelled fueled

fuelling fueling

Words spelled with double

vowels
British English words that are spelled with the
double vowels ae or oe are just spelled with an
e in American English:

British US

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leukaemia leukemia
DICTIONARY manoeuvreType word or phrase
maneuver MENU

oestrogen estrogen

paediatric pediatric

Note that in American English, certain terms,

such as archaeology, keep the ae spelling as
standard, although the spelling with just the e
(i.e. archeology) is usually acceptable as well.

Nouns ending with ence

Some nouns that end with -ence in British
English are spelled -ense in American English:

British US

defence defense

licence license

o ence o ense

pretence pretense

Nouns ending with ogue

Some nouns that end with -ogue in British
English end with either -og or -oguein American
English:

British US

analogue analog or analogue

catalogue catalog or catalogue

dialogue dialog or dialogue

The distinctions here are not hard and fast.

The spelling analogue is acceptable but not
very common in American English; catalog has
become the US norm, but catalogue is not
uncommon; dialogue is still preferred over
dialog.

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Aside from spelling di erences, many items

Type
DICTIONARY and practices have word ornames
di erent phrase
in British MENU
and American English. To explore further, see
British and American terms.

Back to spelling.

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