释义 |
▪ I. † ˈspeller1 Obs. rare. [f. spell v.1 Cf. MDu. spelre; G. dial. speller a gossip.] A preacher.
a1200Vices & Virtues 45 Wile ðu hlesten spelleres and priestes and munekes..ne scalt ðu næure habben god. a1300Cursor M. 20849 Speke we nou o þaa spellers bald,..þe apostlis þat all wide war spred. Ibid. 21179 Þir war his discipleis tuelue,..Spellers o trouth. ▪ II. speller2|ˈspɛlə(r)| Also 5 -are. [f. spell v.2 So Du. and Flem. speller.] 1. One who spells, or spells out, words; one having a specified proficiency in spelling; an authority on spelling.
c1440Promp. Parv. 468/1 Spellare, sillabicator. 1598Chapman Sev. Bks. Iliad To Rdr., I write..to him that will disdaine those easie obiections, which euery speller may put together. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. s.v., A good Speller, in point of Writing. Ibid., A bad Speller. 1776Pennsylv. Even. Post 28 Mar. 160/2 He..is a poor writer and speller. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. vi. iii. II. 37 The worst speller ever known. 1882Scudder Noah Webster ii. 38 Webster was a moralist as well as a speller. 2. A seeker after something.
1796Paine Writ. (1895) III. 217 John Adams..it is known was always a speller after places and offices. 3. U.S. A spelling-book.
1864in Webster. 1882Scudder Noah Webster ii. 70 The popularity of ‘the speller’ rendered it liable to piracy. 1904Westm. Gaz. 25 May 4/2 The extremely primitive primers and ‘spellers’.
Add:4. Comput. = spelling checker s.v. *spelling vbl. n.2 3.
1980Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery XXIII. 682/1 A similar approach is including common misspellings in the dictionary with the correct spelling... This approach has not been included in any current spellers. 1986Australian (Brisbane) 14 Oct. 48/2 Like most programs these days, it includes a speller. 1988PC Mag. May 34/2 The best stand-alone spellers and word processors use much faster look-up routines. ▪ III. ˈspeller3 Obs. or arch. Also 6 speler. [Aphetic f. espeler.] (See quots. and spiller2.)
1576Turberv. Venerie 238 In a Bucke we say, Burre, Beame, Branche, Aduauncers, Pawlme, and Spelers. 1611Cotgr., Espois d'un cerf, the top of a red Deeres head; of a fallow, the Spellers. 1632Guillim's Heraldry (ed. 2) iii. xiv. 179 Skilfull Wood-men describing..a bucks head..say..spellers. [Similarly in other writers.] 1659Torriano, Spéssi,..those sharp hornes on the top of a Deers Antler called the Spellers. 1686Plot Staffordsh. 200 Whereof some of the blades are curled round, divided and jagged like the Spellers of a Bucks-head. [1857Fraser's Mag. LVI. 211 The advancer, palm, and spellers or spillers.] |