View source for Debatable (spelling)

The [[adjective]] from the [[verb]] 'to '''debate'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> is spelled with only two '-e-'s, one as second letter, the other at the end - '''debatable'''. Do not spell it <s>debateable</s> (although ''[[OED]]'' records this as current in the 17th to 19th centuries).

::Although [[King, 2001]] does not list this in his list of ''The 2,000 Most Misspelt Words in the English Language'', it is more common than [[abatable]], which he does.

::::Historically, the '''debatable lands''' were those territories on the border between England and Scotland (largely in the west) which were disputed between the two kingdoms until, and after, the [[Union of the Crowns]]. See also [[Reave - Reeve]], and a fine history by George MacDonald Fraser, ''The Steel Bonnets'': the story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers, Barrie & Jenkins, 1971, and Collins Harvill, 1986.

[[category:Spelling common errors]]
[[category:UK history]]
[[Category:clarification of meanings]]