| A spelling bee is a competition where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell English words. The concept is thought to have originated in the United States. Today, National Spelling Bee competitions for English are held in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Indonesia and India among others. The word bee, as used in spelling bee, is one of those language puzzles that has never been satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old and widely-used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity (sewing, quilting, barn raising, etc.) usually to help one person or family. The earliest known example in print is a spinning bee, in 1769. Other early occurrences are husking bee (1816), apple bee (1827), and logging bee (1836). Spelling bee is apparently an American term. It first appeared in print in 1875, but it seems certain that the word was used orally for several years before that. hose who used the word, including most early students of language, assumed that it was the same word as referred to the insect. They thought that this particular meaning had probably been inspired by the obvious similarity between these human gatherings and the industrious, social nature of a beehive. But in recent years scholars have rejected this explanation, suggesting instead that this bee is a completely different word. One possibility is that it comes from the Middle English word bene, which means "a prayer" or "a favor" (and is related to the more familiar word boon). In England, a dialect form of this word, been or bean, referred to "voluntary help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task." (Webster's Third New International Dictionary). Bee may simply be a shortened form of been, but no one is entirely certain. | A 14-year-old girl correctly spelled the word 'cymotrichous', which means wavy hair, to win America's national spelling competition. Sukanya Roy, from Pennsylvania, won the $40,000 prize after beating almost 300 other contestants to win the final of the 84th Scripps National Spelling Bee. A three-time competitor at the bee, Sukanya tied for 12th in 2009 and 20th in 2010. Sukanya Roy, 14, smiles as she finishes spelling "cymotrichous," correctly to win the National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md. on Thursday, June 2, 2011. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP Sriram Jagadeesh Hathwar, 11, from Corning, N.Y., far right, jumps in the air next to eight other finalists, upon on being told that they made it into the final round of the National Spelling Bee, Thursday, June 2, 2011, in Oxon Hill, Md. From left are, Lily Jordan, 14, Cape Elizabeth, Maine; Sukanya Roy, 14, Newton Ransom, Pa.; Joanna Z. Ye, 14, Carlisle, Pa.; Mashad Nair Arora, 14, Los Fresnos, Texas; Nabeel Rahman, 13, Williamsville, N.Y.; Prakash Mishra, 13, Marvin, N.C.; Samuel George Estep, 13, Berryville, Va.; Dakota Jones, 14, Las Vegas, and Hathwar. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP Mashad Nair Arora, 14, from Harlingen, Texas, spells his word correctly qualifying him for the finals of the National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, June 2, 2011. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP Sukanya Roy, 14, from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., left, stands next to Sriram Jagadeesh Hathwar, 11, from Corning, N.Y., as he is hugged by his mother Roopha Hathwar, and brother Jairam Hathwar, 8, with speller Arvind V. Mahankali, 11, from New York City, after thirteen spellers were told that they had made it into the finals of the National Spelling Bee, Thursday, June 2, 2011, in Oxon Hill, Md. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP Sukanya Roy, 14, of South Abington Township, Pa., is presented the trophy after winning the National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md. on Thursday, June 2, 2011. She won by spelling the word cymotrichous, which means wavy hair. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP Laura Newcombe, 12, of Toronto, Canada, spells in the finals where she placed second misspelling the word "sorites," at the National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md. on Thursday, June 2, 2011. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP Results are in from the second round of the Scripps annual spelling bee, and some of the precocious young participants stumbled over the tongue-twisting vocabulary that they were assigned (the above three words, by the way, are "syntactician," "proboscis" and "ultimogeniture").
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| Here's a list of the words that stumped spellers in round 2, with definitions. Guttural: of or pertaining to the throat. Voortrekker: one of the original Afrikaner settlers of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State who migrated from the Cape Colony in the 1830s Quenelle: a dumpling of finely chopped fish or meat that is poached in water or stock and usually served with a sauce. Witloof: an endive Ibuprofen: a white powder, C 13 H 18 O 2 , used especially in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis as an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic. Infinitesimal: indefinitely or exceedingly small; minuteconsequence or easily drawn conclusion. Dreidel: a four-sided top bearing the Hebrew letters nun, gimel, he, and shin, one on each side, used chiefly in a children's game traditionally played on the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Valise: a small piece of luggage that can be carried by hand, used to hold clothing, toilet articles, etc.; suitcase; traveling bag. Gauche: lacking social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkward; crude; tactless Dieffenbachia: any of various plants belonging to the genus Dieffenbachia, of the arum, family native to tropical America, often cultivated as houseplants for their decorative foliage. Coscinomancy: Divination by means of a suspended sieve Quinary: pertaining to or consisting of five Croustade: a shell of bread or pastry, sometimes of noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes, baked or fried and filled with ragout Moraine: a ridge, mound, or irregular mass of unstratified glacial drift, chiefly boulders, gravel, sand, and clay. Mozzarella: a mild, white, semisoft Italian cheese. Schnecke: sweet, spiral, snail-shaped rolls made from raised dough with chopped nuts, butter, and cinnamon. Ultimogeniture: Compare primogeniture a principle of inheritance whereby the youngest son succeeds to the estate of his ancestor Lustrum: Also, luster; especially British, lustre, a period of five years. Gracile: gracefully slender. Charlatan: a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses; quack. Licentiate: a person who has received a license, as from a university, to practice an art or profession. Jadeite: a mineral, essentially sodium aluminum silicate, NaAlSi 2 O 6 , usually fibrous, occurring in compact masses, whitish to dark green: a form of jade. Syntactician: a linguist who specializes in the study of grammar and syntax Petechial: pertaining to, resembling, or characterized by petechiae. Saxifrage: any plant of the genus Saxifraga, certain species of which grow wild in the clefts of rocks, other species of which are cultivated for their flowers Minatory: menacing; threatening. Proboscis: the trunk of an elephant. Gloxinia: any of several horticultural varieties of a plant belonging to the genus Sinningia, of the gesneria family, especially S. speciosa, having large white, red, or purple bell-shaped flowers Sassafras: an American tree, Sassafras albidum, of the laurel family, having egg-shaped leaves and long clusters of greenish-yellow flowers Comminution: to pulverize; triturate. |
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