106. Smart Moves: Words With 8th Grade Spelling Bee Star, Pranav Sivakumar

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Pranav Sivakumar in Scripps National Spelling Bee 15th Round

Congratulations to Station Middle School 8th grader, Pranav Sivakumar, who finshed 2nd in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals in Washington D.C. Thursday night.  He made it all the way to the top two in the 15th round before missing one letter while spelling the word cyanophycean as cyanophycein.

Pranav Sivakumar in Scripps National Spelling Bee 15th Round
Pranav Sivakumar in Scripps National Spelling Bee 15th Round

The winner of the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee is Arvind Mahankali of Bayside Hills, New York who won with his correct spelling the winning word, knaidel.

But we were on the edge of our seats as Pranav, who is from Tower Lakes, aced his way through the words leading up to the final round.  With a smile, he spelled the word avellaneous, which is defined as “of the color hazel”.

Pranav Sivakumar Correctly Spells Avellaneous in the Scripps National Spelling Bee
Pranav Sivakumar Correctly Spells the Word “Avellaneous” in the Scripps National Spelling Bee

Pranav breezed through his spelling of in the word faconne in the 12th round.

Pranav Sivakumar Correctly Spells the Word "Faconne" in the Scripps National Spelling Bee
Pranav Sivakumar Correctly Spells Avellaneous in the Scripps National Spelling Bee

And we were so impressed and proud as he nailed each of these spellings leading up to round 15, according to his official spelling bee results page.

Pranav Sivakumar's Scripps National Spelling Bee Results
Pranav Sivakumar’s Scripps National Spelling Bee Results

Not only did Pranav put Barrington and our schools in the spotlight, he inspired me to add a few new words to my vocabulary. Congratulations, Pranav. And here are the definitions for your words that I’ll be dropping in casual conversation soon ;), according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary

em·bar·ca·de·ro  noun  \(ˌ)em-ˌbär-kə-ˈder-(ˌ)ō\
: a landing place especially on an inland waterway

py·rope   noun  \ˈpī-ˌrōp\
: a magnesium-aluminum garnet that is deep red in color and is frequently used as a gem

nu·ca·ment   noun  \ˈn(y)ükəmənt\
Latin nucamenta fir cones, literally, things shaped like nuts, from nuca- (from nuc-, nux nut) + -menta, plural of -mentum -ment — more at nut

das·y·phyl·lous   adjective  \¦dasə¦filəs\
1  : having leaves thick or thickly set
2  : having woolly leaves

odon·to·lox·ia   noun \ōˌdäntəˈläksēə\
: irregularity of the teeth

Spen·gle·ri·an   adjective \(ˈ)s(h)peŋ¦(g)lirēən\
: of or relating to a theory of world history that holds that major cultures (such as the Egyptian, Chinese, or Mayan) undergo similar cyclical developments from birth to maturity to decay, that modern western civilization also is undergoing such a development, and that its decline is consequently predictable

trans·rhe·nane   adjective \¦tran(t)srə̇¦nān, -nzr-; tran(t)sˈrēˌnān, -nzˈ-, -reˌ-\
: situated or lying on the other side of the Rhine; specifically : german

ma·soo·la   noun  \məˈsülə\
: a boat made of planks sewed together with strands of coir which cross over a wadding and used for landing along the coast of Madras, India

se·mai·nier   noun \səˈmen(ˌ)yā\
: a tall chest with seven drawers for use in a bedroom or dressing room

fa·con·ne   adjective \¦fasə¦nā\
of textiles
: having a pattern that consists of small scattered figures or a fancy weave

av·el·la·neous  adjective  \¦avə¦lānēəs, -nyəs\
: hazel

hau·pia  noun \hau̇ˈpēə\
: a Hawaiian pudding made of cornstarch and coconut cream

cy·a·no·phy·cean  adjective \¦sīəˌnō¦fishən\
: a blue-green algae

So there you go!  I’ll make some flash cards and if any of YOU can use these spelling bee words in a sentence, enter yours in the comments box below, just for fun.

Congratulations again, Pranav!  And safe travels on your way back home to Barrington.

Scripps National Spelling Bee Finalists
Scripps National Spelling Bee Finalists

2 Comments

    • Nice to meet you Anu! We were proud of him too…sitting on the edge of our seats watching from home here in Barrington. So happy for you and Pranav, Liz

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