spell

Spell comes from Old English spell, meaning 'news' or 'story,' itself from Proto-Germanic *spellą ('speech, account, tale'). Separately, the verb sense (to name letters in order) comes from Anglo-Norman espeler, merging with the native Old English spellian ('to tell, speak'), both rooted in the same Germanic word family. A third, unrelated sense, meaning to take someone's place, comes from Old English spelian ('to represent, stand in for another').

The oldest sense was simply a story or piece of news. Over time, one branch of the word narrowed to mean reciting letters aloud to form words, while the magical sense (a chanted formula) grew from that same idea of speech with power. A completely separate word, meaning to relieve or substitute for someone, joined the family by coincidence of sound.

Spell is cognate with gospel — literally 'good spell,' or good news — through the shared Old English root spell, meaning story or tidings.