<Tr> <Td> idyll </Td> <Td> idyl, idyll </Td> <Td> Idyl was the spelling of the word preferred in the US by the Merriam - Webster dictionary, for the same reason as the double consonant rule; idyll, the original form from Greek eidullion, is now generally used in both the UK and US . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> jail, gaol </Td> <Td> jail </Td> <Td> In the UK, gaol and gaoler are used sometimes, apart from literary usage, chiefly to describe a medieval building and guard . Both spellings go back to Middle English: gaol was a loanword from Norman French, while jail was a loanword from central (Parisian) French . In Middle English the two spellings were associated with different pronunciations . In current English the word, however spelled, is always given the pronunciation originally associated only with the jail spelling / dʒ eɪ l / . The survival of the gaol spelling in British English is "due to statutory and official tradition". </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> kerb </Td> <Td> curb </Td> <Td> For the noun designating the edge of a roadway (or the edge of a British pavement / American sidewalk / Australian footpath). Curb is the older spelling, and in the UK and US it is still the proper spelling for the verb meaning restrain . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> (kilo) gram, (kilo) gramme </Td> <Td> (kilo) gram </Td> <Td> (Kilo) gramme is used sometimes in the UK but never in the US . (Kilo) gram is the only spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures . </Td> </Tr>

List of spelling differences between british and american english