Also 1–7 spel, 2–5 spelle. [OE. spel, spell, = OS. spel, spell-, MDu. -spel, OHG. (and MHG.) spel, spell- (G. dial. spill, spiell gossip, G. -spiel), ON. spjall, Goth. spill recital, tale, etc.]
† 1. Without article: Discourse, narration, speech; occas. idle talk, fable. Obs.
Beowulf, 873. Secg eft ongan … on sped wrecan spel ʓerade.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xiii. Þa ongon he eft secgean spel & þus cwæð.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., III. 232. Dæt nis to spelle ac elles to rædenne þam þe hit licað.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 153. To lusten hoker, & spel, & leow [read leoþ], & oðer þing þet boð to-ȝeines godes heste.
c. 1205. Lay., 12093. Nes hit neowhær itald on songe no on spelle.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 329. Ȝweþer þis beo soth,… oþur us þinchez ase in metingue, oþur in manere of spelle?
a. 1310. in Wright, Lyric P., xxv. 68. Thine peynes rykene hit were long, Ne may hem tellen spel ne song.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxiii. (Seven Sleepers), 362. Wes nane þat euire hard tel of ony of þame in red na spel.
c. 1425. Audelay, XI Pains of Hell, 321. Þen seide vr lord to hem in spelle.
† b. To set spell on end, to begin to speak. Obs.
a. 1300. Siriz, 62. I shal setten spel on ende, And tellen þe al.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1295. Seth þen sette him spell [Trin. tale] on-end And tald warfor þat he was send.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 84. He sett spell on ende & tolde hym all þe cace.
† 2. A discourse or sermon; a narrative or tale; also (OE.), a subject of discourse. Obs.
Beowulf, 2898. Lyt swiʓode niwra spella … ac he soðlice sæʓde ofer ealle.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxvi. § 3. Ða se Wisdom ða þis spel asæd hæfde. Ibid., xxxi. § 1. We ʓeheordon ʓeo ʓeara on ealdum spellum þæt [etc.].
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gram., Pref. (Z.), 2. Syððan ic ða twa bec awende on hundeahtatiʓum spellum.
c. 1200. Ormin, 8026. Þurrh þatt teȝȝ cwemmdenn Jesu Crist Wiþþ spelless & wiþþ dedess.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 1794. Ne can ic eu na more telle; her nys na more of þisse spelle.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19655 (Edinb.). Mikil he lernid … Of spellis þat he siþin spac.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 2768. Þe geaunt herd þat spelle, For þi him was ful wa.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 3840. Ȝit for na spell at he spirid spek wald þai neuire.
a. 1450. Myrc, 170. Take gode hede on thys spel.
a. 1500. Tale of Harper, 4, in Hazl., E. P. P., III. 44. A man may dryfe forth the day … With harpyng and pipyng and other mery spellis.
1612. Dekker, If it be not Good, Wks. 1873, III. 282. There with holy spels mens soules they cherish.
a. 1617. Bayne, On Eph. (1658), 115. The Gospel … may well bee called a good spell or word.
a. 1653. Gouge, Comm. Heb. xiii. 9 (1655), 90. Gospel, that is, a good spell, a good speech.
† b. With possessive pronouns, etc. Obs.
a. 1000. Daniel, 479. Ece drihten … se ðe him dom forʓeaf … þam þe his spel berað.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 27. Bi hulche monna seið drihten in his spelle.
c. 1200. Ormin, 185. To turrnenn … Þe suness þurrh hiss hallȝhe spell Till þeȝȝre faderr herrte.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5332. Þe king badd all to listen þan, And þus iacob his spell be-gan.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sir Thopas, 182. Now hold your mouth … And herkneth to my spelle.
a. 1450. Myrc, 1443. But he take hyre in hys spelle, Þen he may þe name mynge.
1579. E. K., Gloss. to Spenser’s Sheph. Cal., March, 54. And herehence I thinke is named the gospell, as it were Gods spell or worde.
1642. H. More, Song of Soul, II. III. iv. 31. So many myriads tumble down to hell, Although partakers of Gods holy spell.
3. A set of words, a formula or verse, supposed to possess occult or magical powers; a charm or incantation; a means of accomplishing enchantment or exorcism. (Cf. the earlier NIGHT-SPELL.)
1579. E. K., Gloss. to Spenser’s Sheph. Cal., March, 54. Spell is a kinde of verse or charme, that in elder tymes they vsed often to say ouer euery thing, that they would haue preserued, as the Nightspel for theeues, and the woodspell.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., IV. ii. 185. She workes by Charmes, by Spels, by th’Figure, & such dawbry as this is.
1615. G. Sandys, Trav., 28. Where the spirits of the deceassed, by certaine spels … were accustomed to be raised.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., III. xxxvii. 236. If therefore Enchantment be not, as many think it, a working of strange effects by spells, and words; but Imposture [etc.].
1727. De Foe, Syst. Magic, I. vi. 153. The diabolical spells and charms of the pagan magicians.
1761. Gray, Odin, 59. Prophetess, my spell obey.
1810. Scott, Lady of L., III. vi. Whatever tells Of magic, cabala, and spells.
1848. Mrs. Jameson, Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850), 138. Hermogenes … bound Philetus by his diabolical spells, so that he could not move hand or foot.
1894. J. Macintosh, Ayrshire Nts. Entert., iii. 32. The Norwegians believed it to have been raised by the spells of the Scottish witches.
b. transf. and fig. An occult or mysterious power or influence; a fascinating or enthralling charm.
1592. Nashe, Four Lett. Confut., 35. His only care was to haue a spel in his purse to coniure vp a good cuppe of wine with at all times.
1599. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Hum., II. vi. Your good face is the witch and your apparell the spells that bring all the pleasures of the world into their circle.
1618. Fletcher, Loyal Subj., II. ii. Thinking what strange spells these Rings have, And how they work with some.
1668. Cowley, Ess. Verses & Pr., Garden, v. These are the Spels that to kind Sleep invite.
1766. Fordyce, Serm. Yng. Wom., I. vii. 302. Let it be remembered however, that the triumph of their rivals is commonly … short. The spell on which it is founded is soon broke.
1784. Cowper, Task, VI. 98. Books are not seldom talismans and spells, By which the magic art of shrewder wits Holds an unthinking multitude enthrall’d.
a. 1817. Jane Austen, Lady Susan, xxxiv. (1879), 279. The spell is removed; I see you as you are.
1856. N. Brit. Rev., XXVI. 218. The ordinary devices by which the novelist keeps us under his spell.
1865. Kingsley, Herew., xii. The spell was on him,… that of woman’s tact.
c. A device, trick. rare–1.
1728. Ramsay, Last Sp. Miser, ix. To hane in candle I had a spell Baith cheap and bright.
4. attrib. and Comb. a. With pa. pples., as spell-banned, -caught, -raised, -riveted, etc.
1610. Shaks., Temp., V. i. 61. There stand For you are Spell-stopt.
1649. G. Daniel, Trinarch., Hen. IV., ccxxii. Soe you may Vnderstand Spel-Sprung Castles,… if you haue the Key.
1691. Dryden, K. Arthur, III. ii. 34. I cannot stir; I am Spell-caught by Philidel.
1805. H. K. White, Lett. to C. Lofft, 10 Sept. By dark wood, or hamlet far retired, Spell-struck, with thee I loiter’d.
1817. Campbell, Reullura, in Theodric, etc. 146. He … stood at the statue’s foot, Spell-riveted to the spot.
1828. Blackw. Mag., XXIV. 481. The gay attire of spell-raised loveliness.
1867. Jean Ingelow, Story of Doom, VII. 24. Japhet strove Vainly to take away his spell-set eyes.
1896. Ellen M. Clerke, in Dublin Rev., April, 339. The legions, which knew no master save Cæsar, dissolved, like a spell-banned host.
b. With agent-nouns and vbl. sbs., as spell-monger, -mutterer, -speaker; spell-casting, -weaving.
1625. Hart, Anat. Ur., II. xi. 123. I say nothing of our Spelmongers, curing by characters, figure-casting, with a world of other forbidden trash. Ibid. (1633), Diet of Diseased, Introd. 22. Many … have often recourse to Wizards, Spelmongers [etc.].
1821. Scott, Pirate, xxvi. We shall soon see how the old spell-mutterer will receive us.
1845. Ford, Handbk. Spain, I. 48. A person who has visited these spell-casting sites.
1883. J. S. Stallybrass, trans. Grimm’s Teutonic Myth., III. 1109. Many books … couple together sieve-turners and spell-speakers.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 6 Sept., 2/1. The capture and the spell-weaving proceed as usual.
c. With sbs., as spell-craft, -glance, -word, etc.
1817. Moore, Lalla Rookh, Fire Worshippers (ed. 2), 206. His only spell-word, Liberty! Ibid., 249. Like those Peri isles of light, That hang by spell-work in the air.
1817. Scott, Harold, II. iii. To its dread aim her spell-glance flew.
1844. Ayrshire Wreath, 176. Then comes the spell-craft of the mind to knit the soul [etc.].
d. With adjs., as spell-free, -like, -proof.
1799. Sheridan, Pizarro, IV. iii. The spell-like arts, by which this hypocrite first undermin’d … a guileless heart!
1801. Leyden, Elfin King, Poems (1875), 168. Except on his faulchion arm Spell-proof he bear … The holy Trefoil’s charm.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. VI. i. A France spell-free, a Revolution saved.
