Differences Between American And British English In Spelling

British and American spelling
There are several areas in which British and American spelling are different. These are the main ones to be aware of.
 
Words ending in –re
 
British English wordsthat end in -re often end in -er in American English:
 
British | US |
centre | center |
fibre | fiber |
litre | liter |
theatre | theater or theatre |
 
Words ending in -our
 
BritishEnglish words ending in -our usually end in -or in American English:
 
British | US |
colour | color |
flavour | flavor |
humour | humor |
labour | labor |
neighbour | neighbor |
 
 Words ending in -ize or -ise
 
Verbs in British English that can be spelled with either -ize or -ise at the end are always spelled with -ize at the end in American English:
 
British | US |apologize or apologise | apologize |
organize or organise | organize |
recognize or recognise | recognize |
 
 
Words ending in -yse
 
Verbs in British English that end in -yse are always spelled-yze in American English:
 
British | US |
analyse | analyze |
breathalyse | breathalyze |
paralyse | paralyze |
 
 
Words ending in a vowel plus l
 
In British spelling, verbs endingin a vowel plus l double the l when adding endings that begin with a vowel. In American English, the l is not doubled:
 
British | US |
travel | travel |
travelled | traveled |
travelling |traveling |
traveller | traveler |
 
fuel | fuel |
fuelled | fueled |
fuelling | fueling |
 
 
Words spelled with double vowels
 
British English words that are spelled with the doublevowels ae or oe are just spelled with an e in American English:
 
British | US |
leukaemia | leukemia |
manoeuvre | maneuver |
oestrogen | estrogen |
paediatric | pediatric |
 
Note that inAmerican English, certain terms, such as archaeology, keep the ae spelling as standard, although the spelling with just the e (i.e. archeology) is usually acceptable as well.
 
 
Nouns ending...