Spelling

The following includes words from the Canadian Oxford Dictionary and The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling with troublesome spellings. Also included are some academic words often used at York University.

For anything that is not included below, refer to The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling first, followed by the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.

• 2SLGBTQIA+ (stands for: Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans/transgender, queer/questioning, intersexual, asexual, and additional people who identify as part of sexual and gender diverse communities; acronym is OK on first reference)
• 3D (not 3-D)
• Aboriginal (uppercase in all uses; but Indigenous preferred in Canada)
• abscess
• accommodate
• acknowledgment
• adviser (not advisor)
• aging (not ageing)
• allotted
• alumnae (rarely used. See Alumni section)
• alumni (most commonly used. See Alumni section)
• alumna (avoid gendered form unless pronouns are known; can use “alum” instead)
• alumnus (avoid gendered form unless pronouns are known; can use “alum” instead)
• analyze
• BA
• bachelor’s degree
• bachelor’s degrees (not “bachelors’ degrees” and not capitalized)
• benefited
• Bethune College
• biannual, biennial, bimonthly, biweekly
• Black (uppercase for race)
• board or board of governors (uppercase only when using formal name of the board. See Capitalization section)
• BSc
• buoy
• caffeine
• Calumet College
• Canada Research Chair
• carburetor
• cemetery
• centre (in past tense, centred)
• CEO (OK on first reference for chief executive officer)
• chair (a verb, as in “she will chair the meeting”)
• Chair (a noun, when referring to a title, capitalized to avoid confusion with other form of the word. See Capitalization section)
• châteaux
• co-curricular
• college (in general use. See Capitalization section)
• colour, colourize, colourist, colouration
• colorific
• compatible
• confectionery
• connoisseur
• consensus
• co-ordinate
• co-operate
• deductible
• defence (not defense, but defensive)
• deterrent
• dilemma
• disappoint
• DLitt
• doctor of letters, doctor of laws, doctor of medicine (avoid use of “Dr.” title entirely, both for people with doctoral degrees and for medical doctors)
• doctoral degree (not capitalized)
• doctorate (not capitalized)
• EcoCampus
• ecstasy
• e.g. (meaning “for example.” Avoid using, but if you must, use a comma before the abbreviation and not after)
• email, ebook
• e-cigarette, e-commerce, e-learning, e-reader
• embarrass, embarrassment
• emeritus (masculine. See Emeritus section)
• emoji (singular), emojis (plural)
• English (uppercase. See Academic subjects section)
• enrol, enrolled, enrolling, enrolment
• ensure (make sure of; not insure, except when referring to insurance)
• aesthetic
• etc. (meaning “and so on.” Use a comma before the abbreviation if it is part of a series)
• faculty (as in, a group of professors, the professoriate)
• Faculty (as in, an academic division, the Faculty of Science. See Capitalization section)
• favour, favourite, favourable
• fellow (not capitalized, unless part of an honorific title like Distinguished Fellow in Learning and Teaching Excellence)
• first-hand
• First Nation(s)
• First World War (not World War I)
• focused, focusing
• formula, formulas (not -lae)
• Founders College
• fulfil, fulfilled, fulfilment
• full time (as an adverb, e.g. She works here full time. Modifies a verb or sentence)
• full-time (as an adjective, e.g. He is a full-time student. Modifies a noun)
• fundraiser
• fundraising
• gauge
• Glendon Campus (location); but Glendon College (as a Faculty)
• Governor General (no hyphen; capitalize in all references to the Canadian incumbent, otherwise only as a title preceding a name)
• grey
• harass, harassment
• Harry W. Arthurs Common
• health care (noun), health-care (adjective)
• hemorrhage
• high school (noun), high-school (adjective)
• honour, honourable but honorary and honoree
• Honours BA
• honours degree
• honorary degree
• honoris causa (put in italics, indicating Latin words. See Italics section)
• Hyderabad Campus
• hygiene
• hypocrisy, hypocrite
• idiosyncrasy
• i.e. (meaning “that is to say” – prefer that is. Do not use a comma after the abbreviation)
• impostor
• impresario
• index, indexes (not indices)
• Indigenous (capitalize in all uses when in reference to Indigenous people in Canada)
• Indigenous Peoples (when referring to all First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada)
• infallible
• innocuous
• inoculate, inoculation
• in regard to (not “in regards to”)
• install
• installation, installed
• instalment
• instil
• instilled
• interdisciplinary (no hyphen)
• internet
• Inuit (plural noun and adjective)
• Inuk (singular noun and adjective)
• iridescent
• jeweller, jewelry
• judgment
• Keele Campus
• khaki
• labour but laborious
• Las Nubes EcoCampus
• lead (noun, as in “pencil lead” or type of metal)
• lead (verb, present tense of “to lead”)
• led (verb, past tense of “to lead”)
• literature (not a synonym for English)
• Libraries (as in York University Libraries, the academic library system at York; capitalize when in reference to library system)
• library (in general terms, or in subsequent reference)
• Library (as in the Scott Library; capitalize on first reference with full name)
• licence (noun; as in driver’s licence, fishing licence)
• license (verb; to grant a permit to, to authorize the use of; as in, he is licensed as a chiropractor)
• lieutenant
• lieutenant-governor (with hyphen; uppercase only when it precedes a name)
• lifelong
• likable
• litre or l (no period; spell out unless in a table or if used repeatedly)
• livestream
• LLD: doctor of laws
• LLB: bachelor of laws
• LLM : master of laws
• long-standing
• loonie (dollar coin)
• MA: master of arts
• Markham Centre Campus
• master’s degree (not capitalized)
• master’s degrees (not “masters’ degrees,” and not capitalized)
• McLaughlin College
• medallist
• metre or m (no period; spell out unless in a table or if used repeatedly)
• mid-’90s
• midday
• midsummer
• midterm
• midway
• midyear
• Mi’kmaq (not Micmac; plural for First Nation from Atlantic Canada; singular is Mi’kmaw)
• mileage (not milage)
• Miles Nadal Management Centre
• millennium
• MSc: master of science (see Degrees section)
• multilingual (no hyphen)
• multidisciplinary
• newsfeed
• non-profit
• numbers (write one through nine as words; depict 10 and up as figures. See Numbers section)
• occur, occurred, occurrence, occurring
• off-site (adjective)
• OK (not okay), OK’d, OK’ing
• online
• on-site (adjective)
• Order of Canada (recipients may use initials: CC for companion of the Order of Canada; OC for officer; CM for member)
• organization, organize
• Osgoode Hall Law School (on first reference. (In subsequent references, use Osgoode or the law school. Don’t use Osgoode Hall – it confuses the school with the court in downtown Toronto.)
• Osgoode Professional Development Centre
• panel, panellist, panelling
• parallel
• paralleled
• paralyze
• paraphernalia
• Parliament (capitalized when referring to the national legislature; not capitalized when referring to provincial or regional legislature)
• parliamentary
• Parliament Buildings (Ottawa)
• part time (as an adverb, e.g. She works here part time. Modifies a verb or sentence)
• part-time (as an adjective, e.g. He is a part-time student. Modifies a noun)
• a part-timer
• pavilion
• pediatrician
• perseverance, persevere, persevering
• per cent (spell out, e.g. six per cent increase. No hyphens)
• percentage
• PhD (no periods; stands for doctor of philosophy)
• policymaker
• postdoctoral
• postgraduate
• post-secondary
• pow wow
• practice (noun or adjective), practise (verb)
• prerequisite
• prerogative (not perog-)
• Pride (capitalized in all references to 2SLGBTQIA+ events and symbols)
• principal (noun or adjective, meaning first in rank or importance, as in the principal of Glendon Campus, the principal investigator in the research project or the principal objective of the union)
• Principal (uppercase only when followed by a name, as in Glendon Principal Donald Ipperciel. See Capitalization section)
• principle (noun, meaning fundamental truth or law, as in the moral principle or they have no principles)
• privilege
• program (not programme), programmer, programming
• Q-and-A, question-and-answer (not Q&A)
• questionnaire
• rarefy, rarefied
• reconnaissance
• restaurateur (note the absence of an “n”)
• resuscitate
• rhythm
• sacrilegious
• salable (not -eable)
• Schulich School of Business
• Second World War (not World War II)
• self-care
• semi-annual, semi-automatic
• semicircle, semifinal (but quarter-final)
• Senate (national legislature)
• senate (state legislature; in second and subsequent references to the University Senate or general use. See Capitalization section)
• shepherd
• siege
• sizable
• smartphone
• smoky (not smokey)
• startup (noun and adjective)
• stationary (not moving), stationery (writing materials)
• Statistics Canada (StatCan acceptable in headlines; not StatsCan)
• Stong College
• supersede
• surmise
• surprise
• tableau
• TD Community Engagement Centre
• tipi (not teepee), the York Tipi
• textbook
• text message, messaging
• theatre (not theater, unless part of a proper name, especially in the U.S.)
• theatregoer
• thesis, theses
• TikTok
• ton (2,000 pounds, U.S. ton; use in colloquial references like “he weighed a ton”)
• long ton (2,240 pounds, British ton)
• tonne (1,000 kilograms or 2,204.62 pounds, a.k.a. metric ton)
• toonie, toonies ($2 coin)
• trade-off (noun and adjective), trade off (verb)
• travel, traveller
• Two-Spirit
• University (referring to York University)
• university (referring to all others, or to universities in general. See Capitalization section)
• University Board of Governors (in first reference. See Capitalization section)
• University Senate (in first reference. See Capitalization section)
• U.K. (use periods)
• US (use only with dollar figures: US$550)
• U.S. (all other instances)
• valour but valorous
• Vanier College
• vapour, vapourish but vaporous, vaporize
• versus (use long form in text)
• vs. (use short form only in sports schedules and law cases)
• Vice-President (capitalize only when it precedes a name, as in Vice-President Advancement Susana Gajic-Bruyea)
• vice-president (lowercase in all subsequent references. See Capitalization section)
• vigorous, vigour
• voice mail
• volano, volcanoes
• web page
• website
• well-being
• well-known
• Wi-Fi (prefer description such as wireless network in first reference)
• wilful (not willful)
• Winters College
• world-renowned
• worldwide
• worthwhile
• Yom Kippur
• York University (avoid York U and YorkU; York or the University are OK on second reference only)
• YSpace Markham
• YU-card
• YU Learn
• YU Link
• zigzag
• zero, zeros