Spelling

Ardor or ardour

Ardor is passion, eagerness, intense enthusiasm. Ardor is the North American spelling, the British spelling is ardour. Ardor appears in the English language in the early fifteenth century, meaning heat of passion or desire. Ardor comes from the Old French ardure, meaning heat, passion and from the Latin ador, meaning …

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Listserv

Listserv is the correct spelling for an internet service which emails messages to subscribers in a mailing list database. The first listserv was initiated on IBM mainframes for use on the academic network, BITNET, in 1986. Eric Thomas created the first listserv program, LISTSERV, which allowed users to email a …

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Emphasise vs emphasize

Emphasise means to stress the importance of something, to define a portion of an idea or narrative as having greater value than other portions of the idea or narrative. Emphasise may also mean to accentuate a certain portion. Emphasise is a transitive verb, which is a verb that takes an …

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Vigor, vigour and vigorous

Vigor and vigour mean vitality, physical strength, energetic growth, validity. Vigor is the American spelling, vigour is the British spelling. Vigorous means robust, filled with energy, physically strong. Vigorous is an adjective, the adverb form is vigorously, the noun form is vigorousness. Note that the correct spelling in both American …

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Apart vs. A Part Usage Difference Definition 2

Apart vs. A Part – Usage, Difference & Definition

Apart or a part? It’s a common question I hear, one like a lot vs. alot, even from professional writers! But the difference between those two questions is that both apart and a part are correct. It just depends on how you’re using them. So, I’ll discuss both definitions and …

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Colonize vs colonise

Colonize means to send citizens to a different land to establish a settlement and thereby establish political control for the home country. Colonize may also refer to establishing plants or animals in a new habitat. Colonize may be used as either a transitive verb which is a verb that takes …

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Energize vs energise

Energize  means to invigorate, to activate, to instill enthusiasm. Energize is a transitive verb which is a verb that takes an object. The North American spelling is energize, related words are energizes and energized, and the nouns energizing, energizer and energization. Energise is the preferred British spelling. Related words are energises and …

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Misspell vs. Mispell – Meaning & Correct Spelling

Misspell means to spell a word incorrectly, but it also happens to be a word that is commonly misspelled. How ironic. Proper spelling and use of any word are important to ensure your readers fully understand your writing. Misspellings are common with new writers and English language learners. So what …

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Prioritize vs prioritise

Prioritize means to arrange items in order of their importance, to designate something more important than other things. Prioritize may be a transitive or an intransitive verb. Prioritize is the North American spelling, related words are prioritizes, prioritized, prioritizing, prioritization and prioritizer. Prioritise is an accepted British spelling. Related words are prioritises, prioritised, …

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Mobilize vs mobilise

Mobilize means to organize people and forces in pursuit of a particular objective. Mobilize often refers to organizing in the face of an emergency or war. Mobilize also means to literally render something mobile, to make something capable of movement. Mobilize is a transitive verb, which means it takes an …

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