American spelling
- noun
- /əˈmɛrɪkən ˈspɛlɪŋ/
- US
:
ortografía americana
- In American spelling, the word 'color' is written without a 'u', unlike its British counterpart 'colour'.
Examples
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Many students learn American spelling in school to prepare for standardized tests.
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Related: the history of American spelling.
Blog text (32) -
Moreover, European and American spellings were far from standardized in the eighteenth century, which meant that few paid much attention to keeping names and words similar throughout the records.
Academic text (2008) -
When writing formally, you should use American spelling consistently if you're targeting an American audience.
Synonyms
Spelling used in the United States, for example color not colour
The way people write words in American English, often different from the British way
The way Americans write English words, for example color instead of colour
Spelling used in the United States, for example color instead of colour
The spelling rules used in American English, for example analyze and center
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'American' (relating to the United States) and 'spelling' (the arrangement of letters), so the phrase denotes the U.S. variety of orthography. This is a literal, cross-linguistically transparent combination that a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer.
Etymology
American spelling comes from a change started by a dictionary-maker, Noah Webster, in the early 1800s when he wanted simpler spellings for the new United States. He dropped some letters, for example 'colour' became 'color', and chose endings like 'organize' instead of 'organise', so American spelling today means the usual US way of writing certain words.
