The English language made its way to the Americas in the late 16th century. Over the past 400 years, the language used in what is now the United States has diverged from that of the United Kingdom, not just in pronunciation but in grammar rules, vocabulary, punctuation and of course, spelling.
Some US spellings are shared with other forms of English, such as in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Generally, spoken English is mutually intelligible across the world – but when writing, you may have to take extra care if you want to be accurate to any one form of English. Here are seven British spellings that might seem complicated, and we dive into their origins and their American counterparts.
anaesthesia (UK)
anesthesia (US)
Origin: medical Latin from Greek anaisthēsia. The prefix an- means without, while aisthēsis means feeling.
Meaning: the use of a drug that causes someone to lose feeling, especially for pain, during a medical procedure
archaeologist (UK)
archeologist (US)
Origin: either the French archéologie “ancient history” circa 1600 or directly from Greek arkhaiologia “the study of ancient things” plus the suffix -ist. The final meaning in English was recorded by 1825.
Meaning: a person who studies the cultures of the past and periods of history by examining parts of buildings and objects found in the ground
diarrhoea (UK)
diarrhea (US)
Origin: diaria, the “morbid frequent evacuation of the bowels” from Old French diarrie, which came from Late Latin diarrhoea, from Greek diarrhoia. The Greek word, coined by Hippocrates, literally meant “to flow through”.
Meaning: an illness where waste matter is emptied from the bowels in liquid form and more frequently than normal
jewellery (UK)
jewelry (US)
Origin: juelrye “precious ornaments, jewel work”, from Old French juelerye, from jouel
Meaning: objects such as rings, necklaces and bracelets that people wear as decoration
manoeuvre (UK)
maneuver (US)
Origin: “planned movement of troops or warship” from French manoeuvre “manipulation, manoeuvre”, from Old French manovre “manual labour”. The French came from Medieval Latin manuopera, which is also the source of Spanish maniobra and Italian manovra.
Meaning: a movement performed with care and skill
paediatrician (UK)
pediatrician (US)
Origin: pediatric – from the Latinised form of Greek paid- related to pais “child” and Greek iatrikos “healing” – with the suffix -ian
Meaning: a doctor who studies and treats the diseases that affect children
palaeontologist (UK)
paleontologist (US)
Origin: probably from French paléontologie – from Greek palaios “old, ancient” and ontologie “science or study of being and the essence of things” – with the suffix -ist
Meaning: a person who studies fossils, the parts of a dead animal or a plant that have become hard over time and turned into rock
