Here are some memorable words that were used in Thursday’s final rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee:
VARSOVIENNE: A graceful dance similar to a mazurka. Simone Kaplan of Davie, Florida, displayed an impressive depth of root knowledge when she asked, “Is this most likely from the Latin place name Varsovia, meaning Warsaw?” She was right, and she spelled the word correctly.
MARMENNILL: A fabled marine male creature usually represented as having the head, trunk, and arms of a man and a lower part like the tail of a fish. The word sounds like it has a “t” in it, but it doesn’t. Navneeth Murali of Edison, New Jersey, knew that and spelled it correctly.
MACCLESFIELD: A silk with small allover patterns used especially for neckties. Christopher Serrao of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, spelled it correctly.
KIRILLITSA: The alphabet based principally on the Greek uncials that was originally used for writing Old Church Slavonic. Shruthika Padhy of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, spelled it correctly.
KULA: A Melanesian inter-island system of exchange. Nidhi Vadlamudi of Santa Clara, California, spelled it incorrectly, going with the homonym “kulah.”
AUFGABE: A task or exercise, especially when assigned experimentally. Rishik Gandhasri of San Jose, California, spelled it correctly.
RIJSTTAFEL: An Indonesian midday meal consisting chiefly of rice. Blake Bouwman of Grand Rapids, Michigan, spelled it correctly.
VIBRATIUNCLE: A slight vibration. Hephzibah Sujoe of Fort Worth, Texas, spelled it correctly.
