26 of Noah Webster’s Spelling Changes That Didn’t Catch On

Noah Webster had a lasting impact on language in the United States. Before publishing his An American Dictionary of the English Language, he produced a series of spelling books that dominated American classrooms for almost a century. He was a proponent of spelling reform, believing that more regular orthography would not only make learning easier, but more importantly, it would distinguish the American way from the British, “an object of vast political consequence” to a young nation. Some of his suggested reforms caught on and still mark a difference between American and British writing: He replaced “colour” with “color,” “centre” with “center,” “defence” with “defense,” “plough” with “plow,” “draught” with “draft,” and “gaol” with “jail.”

But many of Webster’s reforms went nowhere—including the 26 spellings listed here.

1. Cloke: Cloak
2. Soop: Soup
3. Masheen: Machine
4. Tung: Tongue
5. Greef: Grief
6. Dawter: Daughter
7. Korus: Chorus
8. Nightmar: Nightmare
9. Turnep: Turnip
10. Iland: Island
11. Porpess: Porpoise
12. Steddy: Steady
13. Hainous: Heinous
14. Thum: Thumb
15. Gillotin: Guillotine
16. Spunge: Sponge
17. Ake: Ache
18. Wimmin: Women
19. Determin: Determine
20. Giv: Give
21. Bilt: Built
22. Beleev: Believe
23. Grotesk: Grotesque
24. Stile: Style
25. Neer: Near
26. Sley: Sleigh

A version of this article ran in 2013; it has been updated for 2022.