English Spelling Rules

Learn English Spelling Rules to avoid common spelling mistakes

• exegesis

  Feb 23rd 2012

  By: ibeforee

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  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 23, 2012 is:

  exegesis • \ek-suh-JEE-sis\  • noun
  : exposition, explanation; especially : an explanation or critical interpretation of a text

  Examples:
  For his senior thesis, John wrote an exegesis of the novels of D. H. Lawrence.

  "Were it not for another mini-exegesis hanging alongside ‘Witness,’ uninitiated viewers might have trouble interpreting this large-scale painting as a response to Ethiopia’s drought and famine of the 1980s." — From a review by Kevin J. Kelley in Seven Days (Burlington, Vermont), October 5, 2011

  Did you know?
  Theological scholars have long been preoccupied with interpreting the meanings of various passages in the Bible. In fact, because of the sacred status of the Bible in both Judaism and Christianity, biblical interpretation has played a crucial role in both of those religions throughout their histories. English speakers have used the word "exegesis" — a descendant of the Greek term "exegeisthai," meaning "to explain" or "to interpret" — to refer to explanations of Scripture since the early 17th century. Nowadays, however, academic writers interpret all sorts of texts, and "exegesis" is no longer associated mainly with the Bible.

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• abjure

  Feb 22nd 2012

  By: ibeforee

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  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 22, 2012 is:

  abjure • \ab-JOOR\  • verb
  1 a : to renounce upon oath b : to reject solemnly 2 : to abstain from : avoid

  Examples:
  The expatriate solemnly abjured his allegiance to his native land.

  "Gingrich delivered a lengthy speech to a Jewish Republican organization during which he abjured even the mention of Romney’s name." — From an article by Niall Stanage at thehill.com, January 30, 2011

  Did you know?
  Just as a jury swears to produce an unbiased verdict, and a witness swears to tell the truth on pain of perjury, those who abjure their former ways "swear them away." "Abjure" (as well as "jury" and "perjury") comes from Latin "jurare," which means "to swear" (and which in turn is based on the root "jus," meaning "law"), plus the prefix "ab-," meaning "away." These days, we can casually abjure (that is, abstain from) vices such as smoking or overeating, but in the 15th and 16th centuries to abjure was a matter of renouncing something under oath–and sometimes a matter of life and death. For example, during the Spanish Inquisition, individuals were given the choice between abjuring unacceptable beliefs and being burned at the stake.

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• copious

  Feb 21st 2012

  By: ibeforee

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  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 21, 2012 is:

  copious • \KOH-pee-us\  • adjective
  1 a : yielding something abundantly b : plentiful in number 2 : full of thought, information, or matter 3 : lavish, abundant

  Examples:
  After a copious harvest, the tribe holds a lavish feast accompanied by lively dancing and rituals honoring the gods.

  "In addition to beer and popcorn, football fans who crowded into the Super Bowl stadium in Indianapolis over the weekend were consuming copious amounts of data from wireless networks." — From a post by Brian X. Chen on the New York Times’ Bits blog, February 7, 2012

  Did you know?
  "Copious" derives from Latin "copia" ("abundance"), which in turn combines the prefix "co-" and "ops" ("wealth" or "power"). "Copious" and "opulent" (also from "ops"), along with "ample," "plentiful," and "abundant," all mean "more than sufficient." "Ample" implies a generous sufficiency to satisfy a particular requirement ("ample proof"). "Copious" puts emphasis upon largeness of supply more than on fullness or richness ("copious toasts to the bride and groom"). "Plentiful" implies a rich, and usually more than sufficient, supply ("a plentiful supply of textbooks"). "Abundant" suggests a greater or richer supply than "plentiful" does ("moved by the abundant offers to help"). But use "opulent" when the supply is both abundant and infused with a richness that allows an extra measure of gratification ("the opulent blossoms of the cherry trees").

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  English Spelling Word of the Day

  copious

• duende

  Feb 20th 2012

  By: ibeforee

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  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 20, 2012 is:

  duende • \doo-EN-day\  • noun
  : the power to attract through personal magnetism and charm

  Examples:
  The magician was not only a talented illusionist; he also had the duende that kept the audience rapt throughout the entire show.

  "It took all my nerve to dance in front of people who have been steeped in this tradition their whole lives. It was over in a flash, and in that moment tears filled my eyes. Maybe what I felt wasn’t duende — nobody ripped a shirt or slapped his face — but it was close enough for me." — From an article by Toni Messina on NPR.org, August 10, 2011

  Did you know?
  The word "duende" refers to a spirit in Spanish, Portuguese, and Filipino folklore and literally means "ghost" or "goblin" in Spanish. It is believed to derive from the phrase "dueño de casa," which means "owner of a house." The term is traditionally used in flamenco music or other art forms to refer to the mystical or powerful force given off by a performer to draw in the audience. The Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca wrote in his essay "Teoria y Juego del Duende" ("Play and Theory of the Duende") that duende "is a power and not a behavior . . . a struggle and not a concept." Nowadays the term appears in a broader range of contexts to refer to one’s unspoken charm or allure.

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• extemporaneous

  Feb 19th 2012

  By: ibeforee

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  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 19, 2012 is:

  extemporaneous • \ek-stem-puh-RAY-nee-us\  • adjective
  1 : composed, performed, or uttered on the spur of the moment : impromptu 2 : provided, made, or put to use as an expedient : makeshift

  Examples:
  A group of revelers at the pub launched into an extemporaneous rendition of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."

  "Members give prepared speeches at their own pace and receive constructive, supportive feedback from assigned evaluators. There also is an extemporaneous speaking session at each meeting to give members an opportunity to practice speaking without preparation." — From the Club News feature in Times-Picayune (New Orleans), January 19, 2012

  Did you know?
  "Extemporaneous," which comes from Latin "ex tempore" ("out of the time"), joined the English language sometime in the mid-17th century. The word "impromptu" was improvised soon after that. In general usage, "extemporaneous" and "impromptu" are used interchangeably to describe off-the-cuff remarks or speeches, but this is not the case when they are used in reference to the learned art of public speaking. Teachers of speech will tell you that an extemporaneous speech is one that has been thoroughly prepared and planned but not memorized, whereas an impromptu speech is one for which absolutely no preparations have been made.

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• critique

  Feb 18th 2012

  By: ibeforee

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  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 18, 2012 is:

  critique • \kruh-TEEK\  • noun
  : an act of criticizing; especially : a critical estimate or discussion

  Examples:
  All Sherry wanted to do was offer critiques of other people’s plans; she never had any suggestions of her own.

  "In their first critique of the Banning Ranch development plans, California Coastal Commission staff members found that the proposed project would be unlikely to meet state standards." — From an article by Mike Reicher in the Daily Pilot (California), January 19, 2012

  Did you know?
  "Critique" is an alteration of an archaic word that referred generally to criticism. "Critique" itself dates to the early 18th century and originally referred to a piece of writing that criticized a literary or artistic work. The words "criticism," "critique," and "review" overlap in meaning. "Criticism" usually means "the act of criticizing" or a "remark or comment that expresses disapproval," but it can also refer to the activity of making judgments about the qualities of books, movies, etc. (as in "literary criticism")."Critique" is a somewhat formal word that typically refers to a careful judgment in which someone gives an opinion about something. "Review" can refer to an essay analyzing a literary or artistic work, but can also sometimes imply a more casual or personal opinion.

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• comix

  Feb 17th 2012

  By: ibeforee

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  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 17, 2012 is:

  comix • \KAH-miks\  • noun
  : comic books or comic strips

  Examples:
  Raw, founded by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly in 1980, was the leading avant-garde comix journal of its time.

  "[George Kuchar] became involved in comix through his neighbor in San Francisco in the 1980s, Art Spiegelman; he went on to do many comix storyboards as well as underground comix." — From an article by Charles Bernstein and Susan Bee in The Brooklyn Rail, December, 2011

  Did you know?
  Comix (which are typically understood as distinct from comics in that they intend a mature audience) got their start in the 1960s. Our earliest evidence of the word "comix" used as a generic term dates to 1969, but it had begun appearing in the titles of specific works a little earlier than that: one example is the title of R. Crumb’s highly influential Zap Comix, first published in 1968. The kind of alteration that changed "comics" to "comix" isn’t a 20th century phenomenon: the word "pox," as in "chicken pox," began as "pocks" but has been spelled with an "x" since around 1475. A similar kind of alteration, though in this case going from a simpler spelling to a less intuitive one, is the word "phat," which is most likely a variation of "fat." "Phat" dates to 1963.

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  English Spelling Word of the Day

  comix

• rabble

  Feb 16th 2012

  By: ibeforee

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  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 16, 2012 is:

  rabble • \RAB-ul\  • noun
  1 : a disorganized or confused collection of things 2 a : a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people : mob b : the lowest class of people

  Examples:
  He hasn’t become comfortable glad-handing the voters as a gubernatorial candidate and always appears to be merely condescending to an unpleasant stroll among the rabble.

  "Recently, the publicity department at Morrow Books told the blogging rabble that it might cut off the flow of requested free books if the bloggers failed to cite those books online." — From an article by Bob Hoover in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 8, 2012

  Did you know?
  "Rabble" has been with the English language since its appearance in Middle English (as "rabel") in the late 1300s. It may have come from the Middle English verb "rabel" which meant "to babble." (Despite the similarity in sound and meaning, however, "babble" and "rabble" are unrelated.) The verb "rabel" is related to Middle Dutch "rabbelen" and Low German "rabbeln," meaning "to chatter." So how do we get from babbling to crowds of people? The connection may be the idea of confusion. "Rabble," in its earliest uses could not only indicate a pack of animals, swarm of insects, or a confused collection of things, but could also indicate a confused or meaningless string of words.

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  English Spelling Word of the Day

  rabble

• abnegate

  Feb 15th 2012

  By: ibeforee

  No comments
  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 15, 2012 is:

  abnegate • \AB-nih-gayt\  • verb
  1 : deny, renounce 2 : surrender, relinquish

  Examples:
  The mayor has ordered the city’s finance control board to abnegate its powers.
  
  "Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is charged with protecting reliability, abnegated its statutory responsibilities as the rule was being written." — From an article in The Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2011

  Did you know?
  There’s no denying that the Latin root "negare" has given English some useful words. That verb, which means "to deny," is the ultimate source of the noun "abnegation," a synonym of "denial" that began appearing in English manuscripts in the 14th century. By the 17th century, people had concluded that if there was a noun "abnegation," there ought to be a related verb "abnegate," and so they created one by a process called "back-formation" (that’s the process of trimming a suffix or prefix off a long word to make a shorter one). But "abnegate" and "abnegation" are not the only English offspring of "negare." That root is also an ancestor of other nay-saying terms such as "deny," "negate," and "renegade."

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  English Spelling Word of the Day

  abnegate

• aubade

  Feb 14th 2012

  By: ibeforee

  No comments
  Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for February 14, 2012 is:

  aubade • \oh-BAHD\  • noun
  1 : a song or poem greeting the dawn 2 a : a morning love song b : a song or poem of lovers parting at dawn 3 : morning music

  Examples:
  The play opens with the heroine’s lover awakening her with a sweet aubade.

  "The score, in five movements, has a French flavor, no doubt inspired by the harp. The second movement is an aubade, the old troubadour form that French composers love." — From a music review by Mark Swed in the Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2011

  Did you know?
  "Aubade" is a French word that first romanced speakers of the English language during the 1670s. In French it means "dawn serenade," and that is the meaning that English-speakers originally fell in love with. As the relationship of "aubade" with the English language grew, its meanings became a little more intimate. It blossomed into a word for a song or poem of lovers parting at dawn. Later it came to refer to songs sung in the morning hours. The affair between "aubade" and the dawn began with the Old Occitan word "auba," meaning "dawn." "Auba" itself is believed to come from Latin "albus," meaning "white."

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  English Spelling Word of the Day

  aubade
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