Distill - a unique word (in a way)?
Hi,
I have always been sure that "doubling" the L is only characteristic of BrEng, e.g.
canceled (AmEng) vs cancelled (BrEng)
traveler (AmEng) vs traveller (BrEng), and many many more such examples :-)
How come there is 'distil' (single 'L') in BrEng and 'distill' (double 'l') in AmEng?
Are there any other examples similar to the pair distil/distill? ( I hope my question makes sense... )
Top answer
vlivef How come there is 'distil' (single 'L') in BrEng and 'distill' (double 'l') in AmEng? The rule about doubling the "l" with a suffix or not is a very loose one. Sometimes it doesn't even matter in US English.
- vlivef How come there is 'distil' (single 'L') in BrEng and 'distill' (double 'l') in AmEng?
- The rule about doubling the "l" with a suffix or not is a very loose one.
- Sometimes it doesn't even matter in US English.
- You ask why "distill" can be spelled both ways as a root word, and nobody knows.
- I looked at the OED , and there are citations for "distill" from as early as the seventeenth century in England, and then it settles down to "distil" later.
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vlivefHow come there is 'distil' (single 'L') in BrEng and 'distill' (double 'l') in AmEng?
The rule about doubling the "l" with a suffix or not is a very loose one. Sometimes it doesn't even matter in US English. You ask why "distill" can be spelled both ways as a root word, and nobody knows. I looked at the OED, and there are citations for "distill
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