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.
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.
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.