SOME ALTERNATIVE OR DIFFICULT SPELLINGS
MORE OR LESS IN DAILY USE, ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER FOR EASY REFERENCE
abetter
abettor (law)
accepter (-or in law)
adaptable
adapter
addorsed
adjutants-general[3] pl.
adjudgement
admonitor
aerate
aerial
aerie
aeronaut
aeroplane
aetiological, -logist
aetiology
ageing
aides-de-camp[{3}] pl.
aline, -ment[4]
allineation
almanac[5]
ambidexterity
analyse
aneurysm
ankle
apanage
apophthegm
apostasy
apparelled
archetype
archidiaconal
arcking[6]
armful
artisan
ascendancy, -ant
assessable
aught (anything)
automobile
aweing
awesome
axe[7]
ay (always)
aye (yes—‘the ayes have it’)
bandoleer
banns
banyan
Barbadoes
bark (ship)
basin
basses (pl.)
battalion
befall
beldam
bethrall
blouse
bluish
bodice
bogie (a truck)
bogy (apparition)
bothy
brand-new
brier
brooch (ornament)
browse
bryony
bulrush
buncombe
by and by
by-election
by-lane
by-law
byname
bypath
by-play
by-plot
by-product
by-street
by the by
by-way
byword
caddis
calendar
calligraphy
calliper
caltrop
camlet
camomile
canst
canvas (cloth)
canvass (political)
carcass
carriable
cartography
catarrhine
cat’s-paw
cauldron (a vessel)
caulk
celluloid
censer (a vessel)
censor (an official)
centigram
centipede
chaldron (measure)
chalet
chant
chaperon
cheque (on a bank)
chequered (career)
chestnut
chillness
chock-full
choroid
cider
cipher
clangor
clarinet
clench (fists)
clerestory
clinch (argument)
clinometer
cloak (not cloke)
clue (but clew for part of a sail)
coalesce
coco-nut
cognizance
colander
coloration
colourist
commonplace
confidante (fem.)
conjurer
conjuror (law)
connexion
connivence
conscience’ sake
consensus
contemporary
conterminous
contestor
cony
copier
corrupter
corslet
corvette
cosy
cotillion
cottar
couldst
couldn’t
coulter
courts martial (pl.)
cousins-german (pl.)
craftsman
crenellate
crosier
curtsy
cyst
debarkation
debonair
decrepit
deflexion
demeanour
dependant (noun)
dependence
dependent (adj.)
desiccate
detector
develop, -ment
devest (law)
dexterously
diaeresis[8]
dialyse
dike
dinghy
discoloration
discolour
disk
dispatch (not despatch)
distension
distil
disyllable
doggerel
doily
Domesday Book
dote
draft (prepare)
draftsman (one who drafts documents)
draught-board
draughtsman (one who makes drawings)
draughtsmen (in game of draughts)
dryly
dullness
duress
dyeing (cloth)
ecstasy
eloin, -ment
embargo
embarkation
embassage
embed
embroil
empanel
encase
enclasp
enclose
encrust
endorse
enroll
enrolment
ensconce
ensure (make safe)
enthral
entreat
entrench, -ment
entrust
envelop (verb)
envelope (noun)
erector
ethereal
exorrhizal
expense
faecal
faeces
faggot
fantasy
favour
feldspar
fetid
filigree
finicking
fledgeling
fleurs-de-lis (pl.)
floatage
floatation
fluky
flyer
foetal
foetus
fogy, pl. -ies
forbade
foregone (gone before)
foretell
forgather
forgo[9]
forme (printer’s)
fount (of type)
frenzy
frowzy
fuchsia
fulfil
fullness
fusilier
fusillade
gage (a pledge)
gaily
gauge (a measure)
genuflexion
gewgaw
gibe
gillie
gimlet
gipsy
goodness’ sake
gourmand
gramme
grammetre
gramophone
grandam
granddaughter
granter (one who grants)
grantor (in law: one who makes a grant)
grey
grisly (terrible)
grizzly (grey)
grizzly bear
gruesome
guerrilla
gullible
hadst
haematite
haematology
haemorrhage
haemorrhoids
ha! ha! (laughter)
ha-ha (a fence)
hairbreadth
halberd
hallo
handful
handiwork
hare-brained
hauler
haulm
havoc
hearken
hectogram
hectolitre
hectometre
he’ll (no space)
honour
horehound
hornblende
horsy
humorist
humorous
humour, -less
hyena
hypotenuse
icing
I’d, I’ll (no space)
idiosyncrasy
idolater
impermeable
inferable
inflexion
innocuous
inoculate
inquire, -quiry[10]
install
instalment
instil
insure (in a society)
Inverness-shire, &c.
inweave
ipecacuanha
jail
jam, v. (not jamb)
jamb (noun)
janizary
jewellery
jews’ harp and
jews’ harps
judgeship
jugful
kilogram
kilogrammetre
kilolitre
kilometre
kilowatt
kinematograph
kleptomania
knick-knack
lachrymal
lachrymose
lackey
lacquer
lamb’s-wool
lantern
largess
lateish
latten
laverock
leaf-mould
lettuce
licence (noun)
license (verb)
licensee
lich-gate
lineament
Linnaean[11]
linsey-woolsey
liny
liquefy
liquorice
litre
loadstone
loath (adj.)
loathe (verb)
lodestar
lour (frown)
macintosh
maelstrom
maharaja
mamma
mandolin
manikin
manyplies
marquess
mattress
mayst
mediaeval
men-of-war[12] (pl.)
metamorphose
mightst
mileage
millennium
millepede
milligram
millimetre
miscall
misdemeanour
misspelling
mistletoe
mizen, -mast
moccasin
Mohammedan
mollusc
moneyed
moneys
mould, -ing (v. & n.)
naught (nothing)
negotiate
net (profits)
newsvendor
novitiate
nursling
octet
omelet
oneself
orangeade
orgy
osculatory
osier
ought (cipher)
ouzel
overalls
oyez!
ozone
pannikin
parakeet
parallelepiped
paralyse
parsnip
parti-coloured
partisan
party-wall
pasha
pastille
paten
pavilion
paviour
pedagogy
pedlar
peewit
pendant
peony
petrify
picnicking
plaguy
pomace
poniard
portray
postilion
posy
pot (size of paper)
potato, pl. -es
practice (noun)
practise (verb)
prehistoric
premises (no sing., conveyancing)
premiss, premisses (logic)
primaeval
printer’s error, but printers’ errors[13]
programme
proletariate
prophecy (noun)
prophesy (verb)
pundit
pupilage
putrefy
pyjamas
quartet
quinine
quinsy
quintet
racket (bat)
rackets (game)
racoon
radical (chemistry)
radicle (botany)
radium (small r)
ragi (grain)
raja
rarefaction
rarefy
rase (to erase)
raze (to the ground)
react
rearward
recall
recompense (v. & n.)
recompose
referable
refill
reflection[14]
rhyme (verse)[15]
ribbon
rigorous
rigors (in med.)
rigour
rime (hoar-frost)
rodomontade
rout (verb)
secrecy
sergeant (military)
serjeant (law)
Shakespeare[16]
Shakespearian, -iana
she’ll (no space)
shouldst
show (v. & n.)
shrillness
sibyl
sibylline
siliceous
singeing
siphon
siren
skilful
skilless
slyly
sons-in-law (pl.)
spadeful
sphinx
sponge
spoonful
stanch
stationary (standing still)
stationery (paper)
steadfast
stillness
story (of a house)
stupefy
suggester
swingeing (blow)
sycamore[17]
sylvan
syndicalism
synonymous
syrup
tallness[18]
tease
tenor
thyme (herb)
tire (of a wheel)[19]
tiro
toboggan, -ing
toilet
tranquillity
transcendent
transferable
tranship, -ment
transplendent
trousers
Tuileries
tumour
unmistakably
vender (as generally used)
vendor (in law)
vermilion
villany
visor
wabble
wagon
weasand
we’ll (no space)
whilom
whisky
whitish
wilful
woe, woful
wooed, woos
wouldst
zoogloea
