United Nations Editorial Manual Online Spelling The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, twelfth edition, is the current authority for spelling in the United Nations. If more than one spelling is given in the dictionary, use the form listed first unless otherwise indicated below. The online Oxford Dictionary (https://premium.oxforddictionaries. com/english/) (set to British and World English) is an acceptable alternative. The United Nations spelling list is designed to serve as a quick reference for common words and compounds for which there may be more than one possible spelling. Some words commonly used in United Nations documents that are not in the twelfth edition of the dictionary are included in the list for ease of reference. For further guidance, see also Abbreviations and acronyms and Capitalization in English. Foreign words listed in the twelfth edition or included in the list below are not italicized in United Nations documents. Foreign words that are not listed in that edition or included in the list, however, are italicized. Non-English names of organizations, firms, ministries and the like are not italicized. Fractions expressed in words are not hyphenated (e.g. one third of the total) unless they are used as adjectives (e.g. one-third share). The abbreviation “adj.” is used to indicate compound adjectives that are hyphenated when they precede a noun (e.g. She had a fixed-term contract). Otherwise they are normally not hyphenated (e.g. The contract was for a fixed term). Compound adjectives in which the first word ends in –ly are not hyphenated (e.g. environmentally sustainable growth). Notes: * Indicates a change from previous practice. ** Indicates an exception to the twelfth edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. *** Indicates both a change from previous practice and an exception to the twelfth edition. United Nations Editorial Manual Online © 2004–2020 (New York). Mention of the names of firms and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. Last updated on 11 March 2021. 1 A airdrop airfare airfield above-mentioned airfreight abridgement airlift acknowledgement air raid addenda airspace ad hoc air strike ad infinitum air traffic control ad litem AK-47 adviser allot, allotted, allotment aeroplane Al-Qaida aesthetic aluminium aforementioned among (not “amongst”) Afrodescendant (noun) (preferred: person anaemia of African descent) anaesthetic Afrodescendent (adj.) (preferred: of African analogue (but analog in computer descent) technology) after: compound forms are closed except: analyse after-effect antenatal after-image antennae (insects) age-appropriate (adj.) antennas (aerials) ageing anti-abortion ageism anti-aircraft age-selective (adj.) antifertility age-specific (adj.) anti-inflammatory agribusiness antimalarial agrifood antimicrobial agriscience anti-money-laundering (adj.; not to be used agritourism as a noun) agroecological antinatalism, antinatalist agroecosystem anti-poverty agroforestry **antisemitism agro-industry apartheid agropastoral a posteriori agroprocessing appal, appalled, appalling agroterrorism appendices aides-memoires a priori AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency armoury syndrome) artefact airbag Assistant Secretary-General (plural: air conditioner, air conditioning (noun) Assistant Secretaries-General) air-conditioned, air-conditioning (adj.) *asylum seeker aircraft (singular and plural) asylum-seeking (adj.) aircrew attaché United Nations Editorial Manual Online © 2004–2020 (New York). Mention of the names of firms and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. Last updated on 11 March 2021. 2 attorney general birth rate audiobook bis *audiovisual bitcoin auditor general BlackBerry avant-garde blacklist (verb and noun) awareness-raising (noun and adj.) blockchain ayatollah blood-borne blood-brain barrier B bond market bookkeeping bottleneck Baath party, Baathist brain drain baby boom (noun) break away (verb) baby-boom (adj.) breakaway (noun and adj.) back-calculation procedure break down (verb) backstop (verb and noun) breakdown (noun) back up (verb) breakthrough backup (noun and adj.) break up (verb) backward (adj.) break-up (noun) backwards (adv.) breastfeed balance of payments (noun) bride price balance-of-payments (adj.) bride wealth balance sheet Brigadier General bandwidth broad band, broad banding (verb and noun, baseline in ICSC documents) base-year (adj.) broad-banded, broad-banding (adj., in ICSC bednet documents) Bedouin (singular and plural) broadband (telecommunications) beforehand build up (verb) behaviour build-up (noun) behove bureaux benefited, benefiting burka benefit-sharing burned (not “burnt”) bi: compound forms are closed (see also businessperson “Ambiguous terms” under Numbers, buy-back (noun) dates and time): buy-in (noun) biannual (twice a year) by-catch biennial (every second year) by-law **bienniums by-product bimonthly (every two months) bystander biweekly (every two weeks) biased C bio: compound forms are closed biocoenosis birth control calibre United Nations Editorial Manual Online © 2004–2020 (New York). Mention of the names of firms and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. Last updated on 11 March 2021. 3 cancelled, cancelling childbirth canvas (cloth) childcare canvass (to solicit) child-rearing capacity-building (noun and adj.) child-sensitive capital (city, money) child spacing Capitol (building) chlorofluorocarbons caregiver classroom care provider clearing house (n); clearing-house (adj.) caretaker closed-end (adj.) CarLog co-chair carry over (verb) coequal carry-over (noun) coexist carte blanche cofactor case-by-case (adj.) cogeneration case-fatality rate cohort-component projections case law cold war caseload co-locate case study colloquiums cash flow (noun) colour cash-flow (adj.) combatant catalogue combated, combating catalyse Commissioner-General cathode ray tube common law (noun) CD-ROM common-law (adj.) ceasefire (noun and adj.) communiqué cellmate comorbidity cell phone compel, compelled cellular phone compendiums centre, centred, centring confidence-building (noun and adj.) centrepiece connection chador consensus Chair-designate **consortiums changeover (noun) contingent-owned equipment channelled, channelling contraceptive-calendar method charge-back cookstove chargé d’affaires (singular invariable; cooperate, cooperation plural: chargés d’affaires) coordinate, coordination chat room co-payment checklist copy-edit checkpoint copy editor check-up (noun) cornerstone chef de cabinet (plural: chefs de cabinet) corrigenda cheque (bank) cost accounting chequebook cost-effective childbearing cost-efficient United Nations Editorial Manual Online © 2004–2020 (New York). Mention of the names of firms and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. Last updated on 11 March 2021. 4 cost-of-living index cross-sectoral cost recovery (noun) cross-tabulation cost-recovery (adj.) crowdsourced, crowdsourcing councillor crowdwork, crowdworker, crowdworking counsel (verb and noun, singular and plural) crypto: compound forms are closed counselling, counsellor curricula counteract curriculum vitae (plural: curricula vitae) *counterargument cut back (verb) counter-attack cutback (noun) counterbalance cut off (verb) countercharge cut-off (noun and adj.) counterclaim cyber: compound forms are closed counterclockwise counterculture D countercyclical counterdemonstration darknet counter-espionage databank counter-example database counter-guarantee data-collection (adj.) counter-insurgency data processing (noun) counter-intelligence data-processing (adj.) counter-intuitive data processor countermeasure data set counter-narcotics day care (noun) counteroffensive day-care (adj.) counterpoint *dead weight counterproductive **deafblind counterproliferation death rate counterproposal decies or deciens counter-revolution decision maker **counter-terrorism decision-making (noun and adj.) countertrade de-emphasize counter-urbanization de facto countryside defence (but United States Department of countrywide Defense, Israel Defense Forces) coup d'état (plural: coups d'état) de jure couple-years delink co-worker *delist creditworthiness demagogy cropland démarche cross-country demining cross-cutting demographic-economic model cross-reference (verb) dependant (noun) cross reference (noun) dependent (adj.) cross section United Nations Editorial Manual Online © 2004–2020 (New York). Mention of the names of firms and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. Last updated on 11 March 2021. 5 depositary (person or entity with which a **dunum treaty is deposited) dwelling unit depository (warehouse) dysfunctional derestricted desiccate desktop détente diarrhoea dieback (noun) digitize diktat *Director General (plural: Directors General) (but Director-General of the United Nations Offices at Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi) disc (but disk in computer technology) discreet (prudent) discrete (separate) dispatch donor dependence donor-dependent (adj.) donor-funded (adj.) dot-com dot-org doubling time down payment downstream downward (adj. and adv.) draft (text) draught (air and animal) draw down (verb) drawdown (noun) drift net (noun) drift-net (adj.) drinking water drop out (verb) dropout (noun and adj.) drug dealer drug dealing drug-taking drug trafficking drug user drug-using (adj.) dry land (land as opposed to sea) dryland(s) (type of ecosystem) United Nations Editorial Manual Online © 2004–2020 (New York). Mention