Alex Wong/Getty Images(NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.) — Ananya Vinay, a 12-year-old 6th-grader from Fresno, California, correctly spelled “marocain” in the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night to win the trophy and $40,000 cash prize.
A marocain is a French word for a dress fabric of ribbed crepe, made of silk or wool or both.
Runner-up Rohan Rajeev missed the word “marram,” a Scandinavian-derived word for beach grass.
The bee tested participants’ knowledge of Webster’s Unabridged dictionary.
After three consecutive years of ties, the bee this year had a sole champion. It had added a tiebreaker test, but it did not come into play.
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