“Scepter” or “Sceptre”—What's the difference?

Usage by country

Where each spelling is used

Of the 12 countries below, 4 prefer “scepter” and 6 prefer “sceptre”. Usage levels are out of 100; the more common spelling in each country is in bold.

Usage level out of 100 (if available).
Country	scepter	sceptre	Preference
United States	47	53	“sceptre”
United Kingdom	30	70	“sceptre”
India	39	61	“sceptre”
Philippines	83	17	“scepter”
Canada	63	37	“scepter”
Australia	51	49	“scepter”
Liberia	0	0	Not enough data
Ireland	42	58	“sceptre”
New Zealand	54	46	“scepter”
Jamaica	34	66	“sceptre”
Trinidad & Tobago	48	52	“sceptre”
Guyana	0	0	Not enough data

Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“scepter”

…in the crystal of his scepter, and reveals that the storm…
…public he carried the topayauri (scepter), ushno (golden throne), suntur páucar…
…fire altar & holding a scepter, with an inscription in Aramaic…
Manikin scepter
…family, such as the sacred scepter and sword and the King…
…who was guarding the hidden scepter at Wyrmroost.
It holds a scepter in its hands, and its…
…later, the Avengers recover Loki's scepter, and Stark and Banner discover…
…one lion goddess holds a scepter.
Psycroptic – The Scepter of the Ancients

“sceptre”

HMS Sceptre, S104
…Imperial crown and held a sceptre and globus cruciger — the…
replace a sceptre in that shaking hand?—a crown…
…the power of an alien sceptre and army provided by a…
…by Alexander Robertson and Sons, Sceptre was built especially for the…
…with a cane and a sceptre in his right hand, which…
…a shield and a golden sceptre as well.
…(Ζεὺς Λαβρανδεύς) stands with a sceptre upright in his left hand…
…Windeline, who was second to Sceptre in the 1,000 Guineas.
…Oil & Gas and Romgaz, Sceptre Oil and Gas.

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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