Rules for compositors and readers at the University Press, Oxford

SOME ALTERNATIVE OR DIFFICULT SPELLINGS

Reading edition

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

FOOTNOTES:

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · Compound words of this class form their plurals by a change in the first word.—H. H.Note 2 · ‘The Eng. form alinement is preferable to alignment, a bad spelling of the French.’—O.E.D.Note 3 · But the k is retained in The Oxford Almanack, following the first publication in 1674.—H. H.Note 4 · ‘In derivatives formed from words ending in c, by adding a termination beginning with e, i, or y, the letter k is inserted after the c, in o Note 5 · In The Oxford Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 598, Sir James Murray says, ‘The spelling ax is better on every ground ... than axe, which has of late Note 6 · The sign [¨] sometimes placed over the second of two vowels in an English word to indicate that they are to be pronounced separately, is so Note 7 · In 1896, Mr. W. E. Gladstone, not being aware of this rule, wished to include, in a list of errata for insertion in Vol. II of Butler’s Work Note 8 · ‘This is now usual. See O.E.D., s.v. Enq-.’—J. A. H. M.Note 9 · But Linnean Society.Note 10 · Compound words formed of two nouns connected by a preposition form their plurals by a change in the first word.—H. H.Note 11 · Sir James Murray thinks that where there is any ambiguity a hyphen may also be used, as ‘bad printers’-errors,’—H. H.Note 12 · ‘Etymology is in favour of reflexion, but usage seems to be overpoweringly in favour of the other spelling.’—H. B.Note 13 · The older form ‘rime’ is occasionally used by modern writers, and in such cases the copy should be followed.—H. H.Note 14 · ‘Shakspere is preferable, as—The New Shakspere Society.’—J. A. H. M. (But the Clarendon Press is already committed to the more extended spel Note 15 · The ‘sycomore’ of the Bible is a different tree—the fig-mulberry.—H. H.Note 16 · It is generally agreed that words ending in ll should drop one l before less (as in skilless) and ly; but there is not the same agreement in Note 17 · ‘But the bicycle-makers have apparently adopted the non-etymological tyre.’—J. A. H. M.