Indian American boy Anurag Kashyap appeared totally devoid of nerves as he spelt "appoggiatura" (meaning a melodic tone). He then broke down and hugged his father. He had won.

After 19 gruelling rounds at the 78th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington Thursday that took him through words that most people do not even know exist, let alone spell and know the meaning of, Kashyap won the contest and $22,000 in prize money, a $5,000 scholarship and instant international fame.

He beat 272 others, including three other Indian American students in the final four.

Kashyap, a 13-year-old eighth grade student of Meadobrook Middle School in Poway, California, barely managed to speak and said: "It's amazing...It's amazing." He said he felt "just pure happiness".

Eleven-year-old Samir Sudhir Patel, one of the last two contestants to survive even as the contest organisers began running out of words, looked with moist eyes as Kashyap lifted the glittering trophy.

Patel, home-schooled as a sixth grade student Colleyville, Texas, was asked to spell "roscian" (skilled in acting). He spelt it rossian and bowed out of the contest after winning many hearts with his quick wit and sense of humour. "I am getting all the French words," he said at one point.

A straight A student, whose passion is science, Kashyap had tied for 47th in last year's spelling bee. That, he said, "helped me to know what I should study to...like, win this thing."

After Patel left the scene it was down to Aliya Deri, 13, an eighth grade Pleasanton, California, student. Deri was done in the 18th round by "trouvaille", meaning windfall.

Kashyap recently participated in state-level Mathcounts and Science Olympiad competitions. He also represented his school in the California Geographic Bee.

It was extraordinary, albeit in keeping with the recent trend, that Indian American students yet again dominated the contest. The last surviving four were Kashyap, Patel, Rajiv Terigopula and Deri.

The words that Kashyap was asked to spell included cabochon, priscilla, oligopsony, sphygmomanometer, prosciutto, rideau, pompier, terete, tristachyou, schefflera, ornithorhynchous, agio, agnolotti, peccavi, ceraunograph, exsiccosis, hodiernal and appoggiatura.