Spelling Bee, please I need help!?

Question

Someone could answer me what means
Bee? Not about insect

Why these competitions have this name?
Sorry my English, but I just start to learn.
Thanks

I am Brazilian and my kids study an English school

Thanks for all the answers. All of them are very interesting and I can´t choose one as the best, so I am asking for vote.

XXX

Answer 1

i was a teacher at a local school where they participated in these competions , this is to encourage children to improve their vocabulary, this is held on national then on international level a very healthy exercise for children, if u want ur children to learn new words u can tell them to make a wordbook. in that they can in an alphabetical manner write new words they daily come across. tell them to then search their meaning in a dictionary another healthy exercise and then compose sentences.this exercise is helpful to learn spelling. as for spelling bee contest encourage the school to contact british councilate and find out details and ask them to enroll themselves in it.

Answer 2

It is a very good question, I was always wondering where it comes from, so your question motivated me to have a look: according to Wikipedia, "The earliest evidence of the phrase spelling bee in print dates back to 1825, although the contests had apparently been held before that year. (The etymology of the word "bee" in this sense is unclear. Historically, it has described a social congregation where a specific action is being carried out, like a husking bee, or an apple bee.)"
The same more or less is written on the second site I checked, "The word bee, as used in spelling bee, is a language puzzle that has never been satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old and widely-used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity (sewing, quilting, barn raising, etc.), usually to help one person or family."
And a third one "the dictionary defines a bee as a “social gathering where people combine work, competition, and amusement.” You may have heard of husking bees, spinning bees, logging bees, or quilting bees. Some believe that the term refers to the insect and that the meaning arose from the similarity between people working and socializing at these events and the industrious, social nature of bees."

Answer 3

The word bee, as used in spelling bee, is a language puzzle that has never been satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old and widely-used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity (sewing, quilting, barn raising, etc.), usually to help one person or family. The earliest known example in print is a spinning bee, in 1769. Other early occurrences are husking bee (1816), apple bee (1827), and logging bee (1836). Spelling bee is apparently an American term. It first appeared in print in 1875, but it seems certain that the word was used orally for several years before that.

Those who used the word, including most early students of language, assumed that it was the same word as referred to the insect. They thought that this particular meaning had probably been inspired by the obvious similarity between these human gatherings and the industrious, social nature of a beehive. But in recent years scholars have rejected this explanation, suggesting instead that this bee is a completely different word. One possibility is that it comes from the Middle English word bene, which means "a prayer" or "a favor" (and is related to the more familiar word boon). In England, a dialectal form of this word, been or bean, referred to "voluntary help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task." (Webster's Third New International Dictionary). Bee may simply be a shortened form of been, but no one is entirely certain.

A Dictionary of American English. Sir William A. Craigie and James R. Hulbert, eds. University of Chicago Press, 1944.
A Dictionary of Americanisms. Mitford M. Mathews, ed. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1951.
Mencken, H.L. The American Language. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1938 (suppl. I, 1945: suppl. II, 1948).

Answer 4

A "bee" is also a word used when a group of people get together, especially a "quilting bee", maybe a barn-raising bee--it's rather an old-fashioned idea, from the pioneer days in USA and Canada, I think.

So my guess is a spelling bee comes from the same meaning. I suppose it does relate to bees themselves, which can get a lot accomplished together but absolutely nothing on their own.

Answer 5

The etymology of the word "bee" in this sense is unclear. Historically, it has described a social congregation where a specific action is being carried out, like a husking bee, or an apple bee

Answer 6

Also known as Spelldown or Spelling Contest, Spelling Bee is a combination of "spelling contest" and "bee" which reflects the social nature of the event.

The term "bee" was originally used (and still used sometimes) when people got together to work or play, because people were busy as bees.

Answer 7

I think that "bee" in this context comes from the Middle English "be", meaning a "ring", from Old English bēag. It is commonly associated with people sitting around in a circle participating in something.

Answer 8

sorry - not sure of the origin - but you will find there are many of these type of words in the english language
good luck with your studying