Scary Leads to Spell
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Tap any rung for its meaning.
Two stepping stones: the E (rung 1, for scare) and the H (rung 2, for share) — each borrowed to keep a rung a real word, then given back before the end. There may be several par routes — the census above shows which ones climbers actually took.
Causing fear or fright.
From the verb 'scare', which came from Old Norse 'skirra', meaning to frighten or avoid. The adjective 'scary' was formed simply by adding the suffix '-y'. It is considered informal compared to 'frightening' but is now extremely common.
Full entry on Wiktionary ↗To write or say the letters of a word in correct order.
From Old French 'espeller' and Old High German 'spellon,' meaning to tell or announce. The sense of naming letters in order developed in English. The same word also means a period of time or a magic charm, all from related Germanic roots.
Full entry on Wiktionary ↗Definitions give each word’s most common meaning — the full entries live at Wiktionary.