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This is a list of British English words that have different American English spellings, for example, colour (British English) and color (American English). Word pairs are listed with the British English version first, in italics, followed by the American English version: spelt, spelled; Derived words often, but not always, follow their root.
In 1417, Henry V began using English, which had no standardised spelling, for official correspondence instead of Latin or French which had standardised spelling, e.g. Latin had one spelling for right (rectus), Old French as used in English law had six and Middle English had 77. This motivated writers to standardise English spelling, an effort ...
In Middle English the two spellings were associated with different pronunciations. In current English, the word, however spelled, is always given the pronunciation originally associated only with the jail spelling / dʒ eɪ l /. The survival of the gaol spelling in British English is "due to statutory and official tradition". [155]
The following is a handy reference for editors, listing various common spelling differences between national varieties of English. Please note: If you are not familiar with a spelling, please do some research before changing it – it may be your misunderstanding rather than a mistake, especially in the case of American and British English spelling differences.
In Britain, the variants "have a fine day" and "have a good day" are frequently used in place of "have a nice day". [3] British customers generally consider it to be obnoxious and overbearing, [40] instead usually preferring the gentler expression "enjoy the rest of your afternoon". [42]
Words with specific British English meanings that have different meanings in American and/or additional meanings common to both languages (e.g. pants, cot) are to be found at List of words having different meanings in American and British English. When such words are herein used or referenced, they are marked with the flag [DM] (different meaning).
This list does not include place names in the United Kingdom or the United States, or places following spelling conventions of non-English languages. For UK place names, see List of irregularly spelled places in the United Kingdom .
Word British English meanings Meanings common to British and American English American English meanings oblique (n.) slash symbol a muscle neither parallel nor perpendicular to the long axis of a body or limb onesie (n.) Onesie (jumpsuit): One-piece garment worn by older children and adults as loungewear.