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KoKoKiTTy is depressed KoKoKiTTy is depressed
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What is correct: advisor or adviser?

I have always spelled it advisor.
My teachers, from Elementary to College have always spelled it advisor.

But firefox and other spellcheckers insist it is adviser.

Is there a difference?
  • 4 months ago

Additional Details

I thought advisor was MAYBE a British spelling of words, even though there is no U..
Advisour..eww. Advisor ftw!

4 months ago

Bart by Bart
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June 29, 2009
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Not to argue something trivial, but I’ve always personally used the spelling advisor. Since adviser looked awkward, I decided to investigate. My research indicates that the two terms are interchangeable and neither can actually be deemed incorrect. See the web definitions of advisor and adviser.

Merriam Webster says the words are synonymous, as does the American Heritage Dictionary, the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus, and Princeton’s WordNet. The Purdue Marketing Communications Editorial Style Guide insists on the spelling advisor over adviser. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English states that “both spellings are standard”. It does not appear that the agentive ending –er or –or has any semantic meaning in the case of either term.

Furthermore, a Google search for advisor returns 85,100,000 pages, while a Google search for adviser only returns 21,500,000 pages. This indicates that, at least in common usage, advisor is dominant at a ratio of four-to-one over adviser. It is also argued that the –or version is aesthetically pleasing in comparison to the –er version.
  • 4 months ago
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Other Answers (7)

  • Bad Kitty! by Bad Kitty!
    Member since:
    June 25, 2006
    Total points:
    77300 (Level 7)
    Advisor is merely an alternate spelling of adviser.
    The meaning is the same.

    The important thing is to be sure and use the word consistently.
    If you use "advisor" in one place in a document, don't use "adviser" in another.

    Teachers may have their pet words they prefer students to use, but there is no difference in the meaning of these two words.

    Spellcheckers are often wrong!
    • 4 months ago
  • weary_ronin by weary_ro...
    Member since:
    January 06, 2009
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    1113 (Level 3)
    They are both right in different circumstances, I believe. Dictionary.com suggests that they are both the same: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/a…
    • 4 months ago
  • Stephen K by Stephen K
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    We may be at a point where both spellings are acceptable
    • 4 months ago
  • Hearty by Hearty
    Member since:
    December 01, 2007
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    ad·vis·er or ad·vi·sor (ād-vī'zər)
    n.
    One that advises, such as a person or firm that offers official or professional advice to clients.
    An educator who advises students in academic and personal matters.

    Either one is correct! Advisor seems to be the one that is used most often,

    Source(s):

    www.dictionary.com
    • 4 months ago
  • Bert H by Bert H
    Member since:
    February 05, 2008
    Total points:
    10567 (Level 6)
    Alternative spelling:
    adviser

    Noun Singular
    advisor

    Plural
    advisors

    advisor (plural advisors)

    One who offers advice.

    Usage notes:
    In the UK, Ireland and Asia the spelling is traditionally adviser, though US spelling advisor is becoming increasingly common. In the US, Associated Press style is adviser, and most newspapers and some magazines follow that spelling, while US federal government style, other government agencies, and many businesses prefer advisor. News organizations around the world may change spelling found in sources, even in quoted material. US book publishers may be less likely to change spelling in quoted material because the practice is contrary to The Chicago Manual of Style.

    In the US, an adviser has a connotation of someone offering unsolicited advice, while an advisor is someone speaking with at least some amount of wisdom or authority.
    ;-)

    Source(s):

    Wikipedia > Wiktionary.
    • 4 months ago
  • Danna by Danna
    Member since:
    April 18, 2007
    Total points:
    1396 (Level 3)
    The correct way to spell the word is adviser. There are word that sound the same but mean different things like two and too. Two is a number and too means to agree.
    • 4 months ago
  • Skye M by Skye M
    Member since:
    February 12, 2008
    Total points:
    6420 (Level 5)
    seems according to dictionary peoples both are acceptable spellings though many prefer er ending not enough info available on or spelling could rather than British be Scottish for there are many English words which are spelled differently in Scottish and Irish languages A know this from trying to translate a 1500's Scottish document in Word and had to add a Scottish dictionary to get through the spell check. problem with English is it borrowed from so many influences that some words are spelled different by different groups.

    Yeah spell checkers go with what the programmer sets it by whichever dictionary they like. At least some programs let you add your own words and spellings like MS Word and QuarkXPress. it is an annoyance at times like Y!A spell checker keeps marking Yeppers and Nopers as misspelled
    • 4 months ago

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