spell vs term

spell

verb
  • To write or say the letters that form a word or part of a word. 

  • To be able to write or say the letters that form words. 

  • To work in place of (someone). 

  • To constitute; to measure. 

  • To rest (someone or something), to give someone or something a rest or break. 

  • To clarify; to explain in detail. 

  • Of letters: to compose (a word). 

  • To indicate that (some event) will occur. 

  • To rest from work for a time. 

  • To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm. 

noun
  • An uninterrupted series of alternate overs bowled by a single bowler. 

  • A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula. 

  • An indefinite period of time (usually with a qualifier); by extension, a relatively short distance. 

  • Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers. 

  • A definite period (of work or other activity). 

  • A splinter, usually of wood; a spelk. 

  • The wooden bat in the game of trap ball, or knurr and spell. 

  • A period of rest; time off. 

  • A period of illness, or sudden interval of bad spirits, disease etc. 

  • A shift (of work); (rare) a set of workers responsible for a specific turn of labour. 

term

verb
  • To phrase a certain way; to name or call. 

  • To terminate one's employment 

noun
  • A computer program that emulates a physical terminal. 

  • Specifically, the conditions in a legal contract that specify the price and also how and when payment must be made. 

  • A chronological limitation or restriction, a limited timespan. 

  • The time during which legal courts are open. 

  • Certain days on which rent is paid. 

  • Duration of officeholding, or its limit; period in office of fixed length. 

  • The subject or the predicate of a proposition; one of the three component parts of a syllogism, each one of which is used twice. 

  • Relations among people. 

  • That which limits the extent of anything; limit, extremity, bound, boundary, terminus. 

  • A word or phrase (e.g., noun phrase, verb phrase, open compound), especially one from a specialised area of knowledge; a name for a concept. 

  • Any value (variable or constant) or expression separated from another term by a space or an appropriate character, in an overall expression or table. 

  • The maximum period during which the patent can be maintained into force. 

  • A piece of carved work placed under each end of the taffrail. 

  • An essential dignity in which unequal segments of every astrological sign have internal rulerships which affect the power and integrity of each planet in a natal chart. 

  • A statue of the upper body, sometimes without the arms, ending in a pillar or pedestal. 

  • With respect to a pregnancy, the period during which birth usually happens (approximately 40 weeks from conception). 

  • One whose employment has been terminated 

  • Part of a year, especially one of the divisions of an academic year. 

  • Any of the binding conditions or promises in a legal contract. 

adj
  • Born or delivered at term. 

How often have the words spell and term occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )