spell
n. countablen. a short period of time during which a particular activity or weather condition lasts. You can use it to describe a few days of heat or a short time spent working somewhere.
n. a short, continuous period of time spent in a particular state or engaged in a specific activity. Often used to describe weather patterns or brief professional engagements.
We are expecting a short cold spell next week.
After a brief spell as a junior reporter, she decided to pursue a career in law instead.
The region has suffered through a prolonged dry spell, leaving farmers concerned about the viability of their autumn harvests if the rain does not arrive soon.
From Middle English spell, spel, from Old English spell (“news, story”), from Proto-Germanic spellą (“speech, account, tale”), from Proto-Indo-European (s)pel- (“to tell”) or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to speak, to sound”) with the s-mobile prefix. Cognate with dialectal German Spill, Icelandic spjall (“discussion, talk”), spjalla (“to discuss, to talk”), guðspjall (“gospel”) and Albanian fjalë (“word”).
From Middle English spellen, from Anglo-Norman espeler, espeleir, Old French espeller, espeler (compare Modern French épeler), from Frankish spelōn, merged with native Old English spellian (“to tell, speak”), both eventually from Proto-Germanic spellōną (“to speak”). Related with etymology 1. The sense “indicate a future event” probably in part a backformation from forespell (literally “to tell in advance”).
From Middle English spelen, from Old English spelian (“to represent, take or stand in the place of another, act as a representative of another”), akin to Middle English spale (“a rest or break”), Old English spala (“representative, substitute”).
From Middle English spel (“a thin piece of wood”), from Old Norse [Term?].
Commonly used with adjectives like 'short', 'brief', 'cold', or 'dry'.