ARCHIVED: In Unix, what is Ispell and how do I use it to spell-check files?

Ispell is a spell-checking program available for many Unix implementations. To use it, at your Unix shell prompt, enter:

  ispell filename

Replace filename with the name of the file you wish to check.

In this case, for each word that does not appear in its dictionary, Ispell will display the word at the top of the screen and allow you to change it. Additionally:

• If the dictionary contains any near misses (i.e., words that differ by only a single letter, a missing or extra letter, a pair of transposed letters, or a missing space or hyphen), Ispell will display them on following lines.
• As well as near misses, Ispell may display other guesses at ways to make the word from a known root, with each guess preceded by question marks.
• Finally, Ispell will print the line containing the word and the previous line at the bottom of the screen. If your terminal can display in reverse video, Ispell highlights the word itself. You can replace the word completely, or choose one of the suggested words.

Basic Ispell commands include:

Note: You can type these commands in either lowercase or uppercase; commands in Ispell are not case sensitive.

For more about Ispell, see the man page for Ispell. At the Unix shell prompt, enter man ispell.