Jell-O is a gelatin dessert. Put that on your proofreading plate and eat it. Sometimes the English language is full of grammar surprises, like this homophone: jell/gel.
Jell
Jell is only a verb.
It can mean to set or become more solid, as in a liquid or semiliquid substance. “Watching the Jell-O jell felt like watching paint dry.”
It can also mean a project, idea or people working well. “The new architectural plans for the building jelled, and we could begin to visualize it in the real world.” Or, “The new team members didn’t jell, and it was painfully obvious on the court and the scoreboard.”
Gel
Gel is a noun and a verb.
As a noun, gel is a thick, clear, slightly sticky substance, especially one used in cosmetic or medicinal products such as hair gel or food. There are other, more specific chemical definitions, but we’ll let you look those up for extra credit.
As a verb, it gets thicker. (See what we did there?) You can use the above as a verb such as, “He gelled his hair before going to class.” Notice the past tense takes on two L’s vs. the present: “The stew gels as it cools.” The present participle would be “gelling.” But you can also use this verb to denote a project, idea or people working well: “The team of nurses gelled as they determined the patient’s care plan.” Or “Everything seemed to gel for the theater production just before opening night.”
“Gel” is derived from “gelatin” and “jell” from “jelly.” However, both verbs ultimately come from the same Latin source, gelare (to freeze), according to the Chambers Dictionary of Etymology.
So when should you use these homophones? As you can see from above, it’s a little bit about picking your gelling/jelling poison. But in current popular usage, jell is used more often “to come together,” while gel refers to a jellylike substance: hair gel.
Well played, creators of Jell-O, a dessert made of gelatin.