Opthalmic not a standard word!

[Cleverjen]

Just wondering why opthalmic isn't an acceptable standard word when it is listed in so many dictionaries.  It seems a bit like the spelling variations between different countries etc, but I would definitely have thought this was a common word! 

[birdy]

I've only seen it spelled ophthalmic.

[mkenuk]

That's how it appears. starting 'ophth-', in both of my (Brit) dictionaries (Chambers and Concise Oxford), but it does appear without the first 'h' in some of the online dictionaries. I can remember it being among the list of 'hard' words we had to learn to spell as a kid. Didn't have to know what it meant, only how to spell it!
MK

[Alan W]

I think the two-H version, ophthalmic, is still the standard spelling. It's certainly a tricky word - in researching the topic, I had to keep checking and re-checking to be sure of which spelling I was actually looking at.

Although the one-H spelling appears on several dictionary web pages, they all seem to be derived from the one source, the Princeton WordNet project, specifically WordNet 3.0. That's why the definition is always exactly the same: "of or relating to or resembling the eye". Perhaps the WordNet people have identified that spelling as a slip-up, as this WordNet 3.1 page does not include that spelling.

I can see the opthalmic spelling on other Web pages, but some of these are typos. For example Google Books lists a work called Visual prosthesis and opthalmic devices: new hope in sight, but it is clear from the image of the book's cover that it actually uses the spelling ophthalmic.

Perhaps one day the alternate spelling will get more acceptance, but I don't think it's there yet.

[perdita]

I think it's important to note that many people mispronounce the word ophthalmic ..also  diphtheria.

They have a definite "F'  sound in there.

"Off-thalmic" (correct)  as opposed to op-thalmic (incorrect)

Same with diphtheria ( diff- theria).  Many people incorrectly say dip- theria.

[mkenuk]

This is how, over the centuries, English spelling has got out of sync. with pronunciation. The silent 'k' in 'knight' and 'knee', the 'l' in 'would' and 'should', the 'p' in 'psyche' and so on were all pronounced in the past. Over time, hundreds of years,  people's pronunciation of these words has changed, but the former spelling has remained. Probably this is what is happening with 'ophthalmic' and 'diphtheria': the 'ff' sound that was there is gradually being lost.
MK

[biggerbirdbrain]

Those silent letters sure are sneaky! 

[technomc]

Back to Chaucer me thinks...

[birdy]

"Whan that Aprill..."