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I was wondering, what word should I use. I want to use the word to describe a person that makes spells. Should I use it like shipwright, or should I split the words?

Most spell checkers that I use, tell me to split the words or try to change it to other words. But I have a suspicion that is because this word technically doesn't exist.

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    I've never heard of "spell wright" as one word or two words. The word "wright" is a creator of something, so I would write it with a hyphen, i.e., "spell-wright". In English, when we want to create new words by using existing ones, that's how we create them. Even though "spell-wright" doesn't exist as a word, it was easily understandable from the compound construction.
    – Nick
    Dec 4, 2017 at 8:41
  • Quite right about the spellcheckers - most spellcheckers operate using a dictionary, not any understanding of the rules of English, so the spellchecker is just telling you that "spellwright" is not in its dictionary (because you made it up) and "spell" and "wright" are. Spellcheckers can't tell you anything about new words and whether they're logically correct or not.
    – A. B.
    Jun 1, 2021 at 11:58

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Since most words with "wright" seem to be written together, I would suggest you to keep it that way:

  • Shipwright, playwright, and wheelwright.

Personal thought: the word "spellwright" sounds great and really will mean "a person who creates, builds, and constructs spells". If you mean "a person who invents or works with spells (also makes them)" then maybe spellcrafter will work. Probably even something like "a spellwright/spellcrafter is skilled in spellcrafting".

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  • Agreed with both points of this answer.
    – Luke Sawczak
    Dec 4, 2017 at 14:08
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There is no answer to which is right. You are making up a word, so to a degree you may spell it how you wish. You are basing it on existing (rare) words such as "shipwright" and "wheelwright", so there can be no objection to spelling it the same way, as "spellwright". But if you wish to hyphenate it for clarity, that would be fine.

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  • Moreover, I'm not entirely sure that spells are the kind of thing you can be a "wright" of. Perhaps spellcrafter as SovereignSun suggests.
    – Luke Sawczak
    Dec 4, 2017 at 14:07
  • No, we have playwrights, who clearly write plays. If she wants to talk about someone who writes spells, then it's fine because she's merely making a compound word by crafting "spell-wright". It's not made up as both words exist; she is merely collocating them and almost combining them with a hyphen, and they are bound together whether she put a hyphen there or not. I don't think a native speaker would have too much trouble understanding it any more than he would if I said I'm a "table-washer" for "busboy" or "book-writer" for "author". Maybe I'm a "sofa-builder".
    – Nick
    Dec 4, 2017 at 23:15
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    Thanks! @LukeSawczak, in the fictional setting I have, I chose for wright as it is more than just writing the spell.
    – Robin
    Dec 5, 2017 at 7:37

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