Variant Spellings

Some terms have multiple spellings, such as affable and likeable, or tying and tieing. Equal variants are such combinations, and either spelling is permissible in a document. When there are equal variations, the copyeditor’s task is to record which variant the author used on the style page and to ensure uniformity throughout the manuscript.

Your vocabulary will list one form as the favored orthography, another as a secondary variation, and yet another as a British version for other terms. Although American publishers expect copyeditors to alter British variations (for example, metre), some will take American secondary variants. (e.g., epilogue and epilog).

To comprehend how the editors handle variant spellings, read the explanation comments at the opening of your the dictionary. Equal variants are divided by or in M-WCollegiate, and secondary variants are distinguished by also:

Equal variants: Shakespearean or Shakespearian

Primary and secondary variants: cancellation also cancelation

Because dictionaries list terms alphabetically, the first spelling displayed for a set of equal variants is typically decided by alphabetization rather than usage dominance. The entry will direct you to the recommended wording if you use a variant spelling:

jibe var of GIBE

metre chiefly Brit var of METER

In M-W Collegiate, the following combinations are shown as equal versions. Nonetheless, many book publishers have unwavering favorites among these combinations, which are denoted by an asterisk.

Acknowledgment- Acknowledgement

Afterward- Afterwards

Catalog- Catalogue

Diagrammed- Diagramed

Excludable- Excludible

Fulfill- Fulfil

Judgment- Judgement

Programming- Programing

The following list is also based on M-W Collegiate; other dictionaries’ choices for some of these words may vary.

Preferred spelling – Secondary variants

Adviser- Advisor

Anesthetic- Anaesthetic (chiefly British)

Descendant- Descendent

Epilogue- Epilog

Forgo (“do without”)- Forego (but forego is correct when the meaning is “come before” or “precede”: a foregone conclusion)

Of course, there is a self-reinforcing impact at work here. The choice to designate a spelling as a secondary variant is made by lexicographers based on the prevalence of that spelling in papers from which proof of usage is culled. However, once a word has been designated as a secondary variation, it is less likely to appear in print.