Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell cancer

What it means: A serious illness caused by harmful cells growing in the body.

In a sentence: Cancer is a type of illness that doctors work hard to treat. ▶

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as canser or cancerre.

Same family: cancrid, Cancridae, crab, crustacean. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: The word *cancer* comes from Latin for "crab." Ancient naturalists used this name because the shape and movement of crabs in the genus *Cancer* reminded them of a crab’s claws reaching out in many directions.

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

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Spelling.School is a spaced-repetition spelling practice: ten minutes a day, every word spoken aloud, every miss explained, and every word coming back just before you would forget it. Try five words without signing up.