OrganiSation or OrganiZation? The great spelling debate
What is the correct spelling?
OrganiSation or OrganiZation – the great Atlantic debate
There is a belief that it is spelt with an ‘s’ in the UK and in the US with a ‘z’.
In fact, while the US spelling is with a ‘z’ the UK preferred spelling is also with a ‘z’ and as an alternative with an ‘s’ if you follow the guidance from leading authoritative dictionaries.
This is true even in my 1972 Concise Oxford Dictionary.
Organisation or Organization – So which is correct?
Both, with z being the preferred according to the dictionaries in both the US & UK. This ignores the debate that is also occurring in Canada and Australia!
| Some definitions (when you search for “organisation”): | ||||
| ||||
or·gan·i·za·tion | ||||
organisation |
Main Entry: or·ga·ni·sa·tion, or·ga·nise, or·ga·nis·er
British variant of ORGANIZATION, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZER
source –
There have been many debates about the international spelling of organisation or organization around the world. These include the following found on a debate about computer dictionaries:
My text is marked as English (UK) but it doesn’t flag spellings like organization.
It may come as a surprise to many, but most authoritative UK English dictionaries prefer the -z- spelling for many words, and have done so for decades. English (US) only allows -z- spellings, but other countries allow -s- & -z- interchangeably except: where a particular spelling is defined for a specific entity: e.g.Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
The Macquarie Dictionary also lists -z- spellings as permissible alternates. Some institutions or texts may have stylistic preferences for one over the other.
In theory you could add all the spellings you don’t like to an exclude dictionary, but there are many thousands of such words in many forms E.G.:
Organize, organized, organizing, organizer, organizers, organization, organizations, organizational, organization’s.
Some words only have -s- forms e.g. promise, premise, chemise, compromise, merchandise, franchise, enterprise, disguise, exercise, surmise, surprise.
Organise or organize – some history
One website looks at the usage of organisation or organization and has produced this great Ngram:
This shows that in the 1920s the S spelling was more popular in UK publications, and yet in the 1930s this somehow changed. There was a resurgence in the 1970s, but in the early 1980s that started to drop off. It would be interesting to know the impact of microsoft word and its spell checks impact on the decision of organisation or organization from the late 1980s onwards.
There is more to it than organisation or organization
See these links for more background on the organisation or organization or ise/ize (and yse/yze) issue:
Peter Fennell says
26/02/2021 at 16:34Great piece Mike. And Andrew’s comment that z is the older spelling + took passage to America. US often seems to preserve older forms. I agree Economist Style Guide is excellent. I do not agree with Andrew that anything goes, consistency is all.
Not for me – I want at least a theory of authenticity – even if later proven wrong.
I would not have believed z was older it if I had not checked my copy of Edmund Burke’s “Reflections”. Really surprised to find he uses the z-spelling!
And s-fashion from France? (thanks Andrew)
Despite how deeply the French have mashed and abused Latin to create their dialect – some of us in England still habitually look toward Paris in matters of taste and refinement. I’m afraid I fall victim to this. Not only that but though it may be the ultimate irony I find my instincts link up the s-spelling with a general preference for British Exceptionalism. Francophile British Exceptionalism? – can such a thing exist? Well I guess it may be a rational result of reading too much Scarlet Pimpernel and Montecristo to my sons.
I wonder if Z for S is like V for U – connected with carving in stone?
If so I can only say I would not use ‘v’ for ‘u’ – unless I really wanted to invoke Rome.
Admin-Mike says
14/02/2012 at 21:43Hi Andrew, if only what you are saying was true – but it was that great “god” the Microsoft word spell checker that has educated us this way…
eugene says
27/04/2022 at 14:42hey mike! been inspired by your work recently, mind contacting me? thanks.
Andrew says
14/02/2012 at 17:22Hi Mike,
Writers don’t tend to worry. What matters is setting a style and sticking to it. Consistency is the aim. As your dictionary shows, z or s is permitted spelling. The truth is that the Z is the old (pre french spelling) and that was taken to the USA by the pilgrim fathers. The s is what we were left with by the French and, by some, is preferred. It tends to be that in the UK s is the preference and I do think that it’s neater. It’s the one used by the UK based publications that I’ve written for, while US uses the Z. This follows for all words of this pattern. When in doubt, refer to the Economist Style Guide, or write your own. As I said, consistency is what matters.
Andrew
Heather Townsend says
14/02/2012 at 16:01RT: @rapidbi organisational-organizational: Organisation or organization? The great spelling debate What is the … http://t.co/Za73RO5S
Sanda Ionescu says
14/02/2012 at 15:31RT@rapidbi organisational-organizational: Organisation or organization? The great spelling debate What is the co… http://t.co/C4xxBFHe
Sharon Gaskin says
14/02/2012 at 15:13RT@rapidbi organisational-organizational: Organisation or organization? The great spelling debate What is the co… http://t.co/C4xxBFHe
Mike Morrison says
14/02/2012 at 15:01New Blog post: organisational-organizational http://t.co/SiCodStU
Mike says
14/02/2012 at 15:01New Blog post: organisational-organizational http://t.co/aPsSkGJ7
Mike Morrison says
14/02/2012 at 14:43organisational-organizational – http://t.co/sO9DwblD