Some common spelling errors can elude even for the best editors, so don’t let spell-check illude you into thinking it will catch every problem. Four similar words — allude, illude, elude, and elide — are just waiting beneath your fingertips to be mistyped, misplaced, and confused. The following are brief explanations of the four words, along with example sentences of each from suitably Halloween-esque literature — it’s the latter half of October, after all.
Allude
To allude means to make an indirect reference to something. When you allude, you make an allusion; spell-check can’t save you from misspelling this as illusion.
I trembled excessively; I could not endure to think of, and far less to allude to, the occurrences of the preceding night. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Illude
Probably the least commonly used of the four words here, to illude means to subject to an illusion, to trick or deceive. This verb form of illusion is so rare that your spell-check might not even recognize it as a legitimate word, but it’s there if you need it, whether you’re editing or playing Scrabble.
And that, since all faire colour then did sinke, / ‘Tis now but wicked vanitie, to thinke / To colour vicious deeds with good pretence, / Or with bought colors to illude mens sense. “An Anatomy of the World,” John Donne
(No, the poetry of John Donne doesn’t exactly qualify as “Halloween-esque,” but illude is so rarely used, I was lucky to find this example.)
Elude
To elude means to evade or to escape from. Notice that elude, evade, and escape all start with E, which may be just the mnemonic device you need. All sorts of things can be eluded — police, kidnappers, understanding.
Elude appears too often where allude should be, so be on the lookout — don’t let this spelling error elude you! Here again, spell-check won’t save you from the mistake, though a good one might flag “elude to” as a possible error.
However, spell-check won’t save you from confusing elusive, allusive, and illusive.
I knew that at sunset the Thing, which was till then imprisoned there, would take new freedom and could in any of many forms elude all pursuit. Dracula, Bram Stoker
Elide
To elide means to leave out or omit or to cut short. This word is the odd man out on this list, with that central vowel sound being so different. But the spelling of elude and elide differ by only one letter — a U in one and an I in the other. Now look at your keyboard: U and I are right next to each other! This is an easy typo to make, and spell-check won’t save you from it.
And here’s where it can get confusing: In text, when something is elided, it is an elision (with one L), which is marked with ellipsis points (with two Ls). And a phrase with an elision, like the example that follows, is not *elisive but elliptical.
What matter has been elided from this popular presentation — because of the excessively menacing potentialities it contains … — will be dealt with in purely scientific pamphlets of carefully guarded circulation. Preface to The Moon Pool, Abraham Merritt.
This article was originally posted on the Copyediting website, Oct. 18, 2017.
