Moss Spelling Dictionary

Should the d be doubled?

heard as pseuddevernia

spelled pseudevernia

No. pseuddevernia carries one d too many: Pseudevernia.

What the ear did

The d sits exactly on the seam between pseud- and Evernia, and a seam is where doubling looks most plausible in English. Latin joins the two parts with nothing at all, so a single d does the work of both.

Sound decision: a doubled consonant under the stress. Said soo-de-VER-nee-uh.

P-S-E-U-D-E-V-E-R-N-I-A

The full entry for pseudevernia covers the name itself.

Other spellings people try