spelt
/ˈspɛlt/noun, verb
spelt is spelled S-P-E-L-T: 5 letters. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spelt means “A grain, considered either a subspecies of wheat, Triticum aestivum subsp. spelta, or a separate species Triticum spelta or Triticum dicoccon” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spelt is spelts.
How many letters and syllables are in spelt?
| Letters | 5: S-P-E-L-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is spelt?
Spelt appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce spelt?
- /ˈspɛlt/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-spelt.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with spelt
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of spelt
- spelts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- spelting participle, present
- spelted participle, past
- spelled
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spelt mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A grain, considered either a subspecies of wheat, Triticum aestivum subsp. spelta, or a separate species Triticum spelta or Triticum dicoccon.
- 2
ScotlandA thin piece of wood or metal; a splinter.
- 3
Spelter.
verb
- 1
UKsimple past and past participle of spell
- 2
obsoleteTo grind or crush (grain or pulses).
adjective
- 1
obsoleterareOf dried beans: pounded, crushed, or split.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spelt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a type of wheat, Triticum aestivum spelta:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does spelt come from?
From Middle English spelt, 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 *spiltaz (“spelt”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).