Canadian Spelling Words
The comparison chart below lists words and their spellings according to country. To keep things simple, I’ve chosen only two countries: mine – Canada – and our neighbours south of the border – United States. Though Canadian words were originally influenced by England, our biggest influence now is the United States.
Over time, this list will grow. My need to create it stems from my desire to use Canadian spellings in my own writing. I want to be consistent and accurate in portraying our unique way of spelling, one that I was taught in school and has been handed down from my parents.
To read more about why I created this list, visit the blog post Which language do you write?
This page on the web is my reference, but I hope others find it helpful, too.
Word spellings in the English language have changed many times since humans began to write and it continues to change. In reality, there is no one spelling that is more right than others; one is simple more imbedded in a culture than the other in a given time frame. My list strives to capture the spelling language in which I was taught and had come to know as Canadian spelling.
For a visual of certain British and American word comparisons, check out this page.
Last updated January 22, 2016
|
Canada |
United States |
| aluminium | aluminum |
| amongst | among |
| archaeology | archeology |
| armour | armor |
| axe | ax |
| behaviour | behavior |
| burnt | burned |
| bussing, bussed | busing, bused |
| cancelled | canceled |
| catalogue | catalog |
| cheque | check |
| cigarette | cigarette |
| civilise | civilize |
| clamour | clamor |
| colour | color |
| cosy | cozy |
| counsellor | counselor |
| crenellated | crenelated |
| crenellation | crenelation |
| dependant | dependent |
| defence | defense |
| dialling | dialing |
| dialogue | dialog |
| doughnut | donut |
| draught (current of air) | draft |
| dreamt | dreamed |
| enquiry | inquiry |
| favour | favor |
| favourite | favorite |
| fibre | fiber |
| flavour | flavor |
| focussing, focussed | focusing, focused |
| grey | gray |
| harbour | harbor |
| honour | honor |
| honourary | honorary |
| humour
independant* or independent |
humor
independent |
| jewellery
judgement |
jewelry
judgment |
| kilometre | kilometer |
| labelling, labelled | labeling, labeled |
| labour | labor |
| learnt | learned |
| leapt | leaped |
| licence (noun) | license |
| license (verb) | license |
| litre | liter |
| lustre | luster |
| manoeuvre | maneuver |
| marvellous | marvelous |
| meagre | meager |
| mediaeval | medieval |
| mesmerize | mezmorize |
| metre | meter |
| mould | mold |
| moulded | molded |
| moustache | mustache |
| neighbour | neighbor |
| odour | odor |
| offence | offense |
| panelled | paneled |
| pedlar
phoney |
peddler
phony |
| pleaded | pled |
| plough | plow |
| practise (verb) | practice |
| practice (noun) | practice |
| pyjamas | pajamas |
| realise | realize |
| recognise | recognize |
| rumour | rumor |
| sceptical | skeptical |
| skilful | skillful |
| smelt | smelled |
| snowplough | snowplow |
| spelt | spelled |
| spilt | spilled |
| spoilt | spoiled |
| storey | story |
| sulphur | sulfur |
| theatre | theater |
| towards | toward |
| traveller | traveler |
| travelling | traveling |
| tumour | tumor |
| valour | valor |
| vapour | vapor |
| vigour | vigor |
| woollen | woolen |
| yoghurt | yogurt |
*Independant: “Whether it was from this circumstance, of its being easily taken, or from a wish of being independant, or from an excess of sensibility (for which we were always remarkable) I cannot now determine, but certain it is that when we had reached our 15th year, we took the nine Hundred Pounds and ran away.” Love and Friendship by Jane Austen
Linguistic Discussion
An interesting article on the history of ‘our’ and ‘or’ along with ‘re’ and ‘er’ is found on Quartz.
. . . more as time permits.
This is my second time to this page. One thing I’ve noticed as a pattern is the words ending in “or” for the American version, all end with “our” in the Canadian version, or am I wrong on this? (Yes, by the double quotes, I’m sure you’ve guessed I’m American.)
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Yes, many words that contain ‘our’ are also spelt ‘or’: colour/color, honour/honor, neighbour/neighbour. Another difference is the ‘s’ for ‘z’. When I pronounce words such as ‘realise’, I speak it with an ‘s’ sound, not a ‘z’ sound. Words ending with ‘ed’ are another group. For the life of me, I can’t say ‘spelled’. It’s too awkward. I grew up saying ‘spelt’.
I could easily join the wave of Canadians switching to the new spelling and toss my heritage out the window, but I don’t want to. I love the look of ‘harbour’. ‘Harbor’ looks to blunt.
Do I fear readers from other countries will think I don’t know how to spell? Sometimes, but I always put a note at the start of my books: Written using Canadian spelling.
Thanks for stopping by.
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That’s a great list. The Canadian/English spelling just seem more accurate in how the words should be spoken in the majority of cases and even though it sounds stupid, look more beautiful on the page too. When I was hiring people at work, if they couldn’t get the spelling right then it was an easy way for me to decide they weren’t for me.
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Thanks, Stephen. I agree that Canadian/English spelling better represents the way words actually sound. I also agree that colour is ‘prettier’ than color. Color looks bland. The flow of letters do add to the beauty of the page. Although spelling doesn’t truly represent a person’s intelligence, it’s often difficult to see someone as smart if they can’t write properly.
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excellent post and quite useful list: UK spelling and North American spelling… thanx! 🙂
Sunny greetings from Toulouse, France, “old Europe”, my very best and good luck in all your endeavo(u)rs… 🙂 Mélanie NB
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Hello, Melanie, and thank you for visiting my blog. I’m glad to hear you enjoy the spelling list.
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