# spell

> English word · Noun · IPA /spɛl/ · frequency rank #3,849

## Definitions
1. Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
2. A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula.
3. Speech, discourse.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **SPL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spl)
- **spew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spew)
- **still** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-still)
- **spent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spent)
- **spend** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spend)
- **steel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-steel)
- **steal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-steal)
- **sperm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-sperm)
- **spill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spill)
- **spoil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spoil)
- **stall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-stall)
- **swell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-swell)
- **spelt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spelt)
- **spilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spilt)
- **spool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spool)
- **Stoll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-stoll)
- **spiel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spiel)
- **stella** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-stella)
- **spills** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spills)
- **spelled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spell-vs-spelled)

## Common misspellings (6)
`psell`, `sepll`, `spel`, `splel`, `sppell`, `sspell`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spell