OXON HILL, Md. — N-U-M-M-U-L-A-R. That spelled defeat last Tuesday for Prince Parker Brown, a seventh grader at Lubbock's Atkins Middle School, who was eliminated in the third round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Brown was to spell "nummular" — an adjective of Greek, Latin and French origin that means circular or oval in shape — in the third round of the bee in order to move on to the televised semifinals. He spelled the word "numbular" to end his contention for the title and finish tied with 45 others for 89th place. In total, 234 students competed.

In round one, Brown correctly spelled "kalimba," an African thumb piano, and then correctly defined "succumb" as "yield to a force or appeal" in round two.

Brown earned his national bee berth by correctly spelling "dim sum," a traditional Chinese cuisine, at the Lubbock regional spelling bee hosted by Ramar Communications.

Further reading:Atkins Middle School student Prince Parker Brown headed to Scripps National Spelling Bee

Jordan Casarez, Brown's English teacher at Atkins who traveled with him to Washington, said he'll be back next year as an eighth grader and come home a champion.

"Prince made it a great run this school year and we appreciate all the continued support," Casarez said on social media. "We can’t wait to return next year and bring home the gold!"

In April, Brown told the Avalanche-Journal that he is proud to represent Lubbock on the national stage, even though he was nervous to do so.

"It's kind of nervous if you’ve never been in it before, but you’ve got to overcome your fear of being nervous and you’ve got to conquer it," he said. Nevertheless, "it feels good that I get to be a part of the community and I get to make a difference."

"(Prince's) dedication to this has been an experience that I don’t think I’ll ever forget from my career," Casarez previously told the A-J. "I’m just really, really proud to not only be his teacher, but to feel like he’s one of my own."

More:Harini Logan, an 8th-grader from Texas, wins 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee in historic spell-off

Harini Logan, an eighth grader from San Antonio, went home the champion this year after a historic spell-off was activated, pitting her against Vikram Raju. Logan spelled 22 words correctly in 90 seconds, compared to Raju's 15, to become the 2022 champion. Officially, this year's winning word was "moorhen" — a medium-sized bird defined as "the female of the red grouse."