Spelling Science the British Way
Have you seen some funny spelling in books or web pages from other countries?
- caesium
- colour
- litre
- oesophagus
It may be wrong here, but right in another country—even though it’s all English!
In America, we spell some words our way. In England, Scotland, and Wales, they spell it the British way. And in countries like Canada, they spell some words the British way and other words more like the American way. Confused? Check out the table below to see some of the differences.
| British spelling | American spelling |
|---|---|
| aluminium | aluminum |
| amoeba | ameba |
| anaemia | anemia |
| anaesthesia | anesthesia |
| analyse | analyze |
| caesium | cesium |
| catalyse | catalyze |
| centre | center |
| colour | color |
| faeces | feces |
| fibre | fiber |
| flavour | flavor |
| foetal | fetal |
| grey | gray |
| hydrolyse | hydrolyze |
| kilometre | kilometer |
| labour | labor |
| litre | liter |
| metre | meter |
| mould | mold |
| oesophagus | esophagus |
| orthopaedic | orthopedic |
| paediatric | pediatric |
| palaeontology | paleontology |
| paralyse | paralyze |
| programme | program |
| sulphur | sulfur |
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