American and British English – Vocabulary – N – Z

Here you will find words which have different meanings or are spelled differently in British and American English.

American English British English
N
national holiday, federal holiday bank holiday
Native American American Indian
nauseated sick
neighbor neighbour
O
on the weekend at the weekend
one-way ticket single ticket
P
pacifier dummy
pants trousers
parentheses (round) brackets
parking lot car park
pavement roadway
period full stop
phone booth phone box
potato chips crisps
powdered sugar icing sugar
prime rate base rate
principal headmaster, headteacher
private school public school
program programme
Q
quotation marks inverted commas, quotation marks
R
railroad railway
raincoat mackintosh
raisin sultana
to rent to hire
restroom, bathroom toilet, loo
résumé
curriculum vitae (CV)
curriculum vitae
(bath) robe dressing gown
S
sales clerk shop assistant
sandbox sandpit
Santa Claus Father Christmas
schedule timetable
second floor first floor
semester term
to set the table to lay the table
shrimp prawn
sidewalk pavement
sneakers trainers
soccer football
social security number national insurance number
stock share
store shop
stove cooker
streetcar tram
stuffed animal soft toy
subway underground, tube
suspenders braces
sweater jumper
swimsuit (bathing) costume
T
theater theatre
thumbtack drawing pin
tire tyre
traffic circle, rotary roundabout
trailer caravan
traveled travelled
truck lorry
trunk boot
turn signal, blinker indicator
turtleneck polo neck
tux, tuxedo dinner jacket
two weeks fortnight
U
underpants pants
underpass subway
undershirt vest
V
vacation holiday
vacuum cleaner hoover
vest waistcoat
W
wash up to wash
wrench spanner
Y
yard garden
yard sale jumble sale
Z
zip code post code
zipper zip
zucchini courgette

Thanks to Carl, Declan, Edeet, Gabriele, Hans, John, Karin, Liz, Monika, Oleg, Ron, Ulrike and Vicky.