spelling bee

English

Etymology

From spelling +‎ bee (“get-together, (social) gathering, contest”) (The earliest known evidence of the phrase in print dates back to 1850).

Noun

spelling bee (plural spelling bees)

1. A spelling contest or competition where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell out words (orally, letter by letter); the individual or team spelling the most words correctly wins.

Synonyms

• spelldown
• spelling match (earlier term, traced back to 1808)

Related terms

• apple bee
• geography bee
• husking bee
• quilting bee
• sewing bee

Translations

spelling contest or competition

• Bulgarian: състезание по правопис (sǎstezanie po pravopis)
• French: compétition de l’épellation f
• German: Buchstabierwettbewerb (de) m, Rechtschreibwettbewerb m
• Hungarian: helyesírásverseny, helyesíróverseny, betűzőverseny

Further reading

• spelling bee on Wikipedia.Wikipedia