Part 633

2. A stanza, verse, or phrase supposed to be endowed with magical power; an incantation; hence, any charm.

Start not; her actions shall be holy as You hear my spell is lawful.

Shak.

Spell, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spelled (&?;) or Spelt (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Spelling.] [OE. spellen, spellien, tell, relate, AS. spellian, fr. spell a saying, tale; akin to MHG. spellen to relate, Goth. spill&?;n.e Spell a tale. In sense 4 and those following, OE. spellen, perhaps originally a different word, and from or influenced by spell a splinter, from the use of a piece of wood to point to the letters in schools: cf. D. spellen to spell. Cf. Spell splinter.] 1. To tell; to relate; to teach. [Obs.]

Might I that legend find, By fairies spelt in mystic rhymes.

T. Warton.

2. To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm. "Spelled with words of power." Dryden.

He was much spelled with Eleanor Talbot.

Sir G. Buck.

3. To constitute; to measure. [Obs.]

The Saxon heptarchy, when seven kings put together did spell but one in effect.

Fuller.

4. To tell or name in their proper order letters of, as a word; to write or print in order the letters of, esp. the proper letters; to form, as words, by correct orthography.

The word "satire" ought to be spelled with i, and not with y.

Dryden.

5. To discover by characters or marks; to read with difficulty; -- usually with out; as, to spell out the sense of an author; to spell out a verse in the Bible.

To spell out a God in the works of creation.

South.

To sit spelling and observing divine justice upon every accident.

Milton.

Spell, v. i. 1. To form words with letters, esp. with the proper letters, either orally or in writing.

When what small knowledge was, in them did dwell, And he a god, who could but read or spell.

Dryden.

2. To study by noting characters; to gain knowledge or learn the meaning of anything, by study. [Obs.]

Where I may sit and rightly spell Of every star that heaven doth shew, And every herb that sips the dew.

Milton.

Spell"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being spelt. Carlyle.

Spell"bound` (?), a. Bound by, or as by, a spell.