Can't spell? Maybe it's because you're too clever, says Collins dictionary

Researchers claim that a number of words are misspelt simply because we're too clever.

For example, the English word most commonly spelt incorrectly in published documents and on the internet is supersede.

Spellbound: The English word most commonly spelt incorrectly in published documents and on the internet is supersede

Many of us wrongly come up with ' supercede' because of our knowledge of other words including intercede or precede. The word itself comes from the Latin super-sedere, meaning to desist.

The same temptation to refer to our experience of other words causes us to come a cropper with consensus, liquefy and sacrilegious.

They are among scores of examples found by researchers for Collins dictionaries, who ran thousands of documents through a software program designed to pick up spelling mistakes.

They included published books and articles, as well as internet blogs, to ensure that they covered a wide range of writing styles and media.

Supersede was by far the most commonly misspelt word, although it was wrong only one time out of ten.

Consensus is frequently spelt incorrectly as concensus because the writer wrongly believes that it relates to the word census which comes from the Latin censere, to assess. Consensus, however, derives from the Latin consentire, to agree.

When it comes to liquefy, many are tempted to spell it as liquify because they wrongly apply the spelling of liquid.

The same applies to sacrilegious which is often misspelt as sacreligious (as with religious) and inoculate because many know the word innocuous contains a double 'n'.

Ian Brookes, managing editor of dictionaries at Collins, said: 'The real spelling problems occur when people have learnt the rules or have a bit of knowledge, but make mistakes in how they apply this.'

Another common reason for misspelling is where words are spelt differently from their pronunciation or when they come from a foreign language.

Collins is holding a public vote next month to find out which word schoolchildren think has the stupidest spelling.

The Spelling Society has campaigned for the past 100 years for a simplified and phonetic form of spelling. It has backed a campaign launched by lecturer Ken Smith, from Buckinghamshire New University, to compile a list of variant spellings which would include common misspellings including thier, arguement, ignor and speach.

Its chairman, Jack Bovill, said: 'Clearly changes are taking place moving towards a more logical form of spelling. The readiness of people to accept what Ken Smith calls variant spellings will not create a world catastrophe.'

A survey for the Spelling Society in May found half of adults unable to spell words such as embarrassed, liaison or millennium. More than a quarter struggled to spell definitely, accidentally and separate.