diff --git a/autotests/syntaxrepository_test.cpp b/autotests/syntaxrepository_test.cpp
--- a/autotests/syntaxrepository_test.cpp
+++ b/autotests/syntaxrepository_test.cpp
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@
         QCOMPARE(def.singleLineCommentPosition(), KSyntaxHighlighting::CommentPosition::StartOfLine);
         const auto emptyPair = QPair<QString, QString>();
         QCOMPARE(def.multiLineCommentMarker(), emptyPair);
+        QVERIFY(def.characterEncodings().isEmpty());
 
 
         for (QChar c : QStringLiteral("\t !%&()*+,-./:;<=>?[\\]^{|}~")) {
@@ -341,6 +342,16 @@
         QVERIFY(def.foldingEnabled());
         QVERIFY(def.indentationBasedFoldingEnabled());
     }
+
+    void testCharacterEncodings()
+    {
+        auto def = m_repo.definitionForName(QLatin1String("LaTeX"));
+        QVERIFY(def.isValid());
+        const auto encodings = def.characterEncodings();
+        QVERIFY(!encodings.isEmpty());
+        QVERIFY(encodings.contains({ QChar(196), QLatin1String("\\\"{A}") }));
+        QVERIFY(encodings.contains({ QChar(227), QLatin1String("\\~{a}") }));
+    }
 };
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/definition.h b/src/lib/definition.h
--- a/src/lib/definition.h
+++ b/src/lib/definition.h
@@ -305,6 +305,14 @@
      */
     QPair<QString, QString> multiLineCommentMarker() const;
 
+    /**
+     * Returns a list of character/string mapping that can be used for spell
+     * checking. This is useful for instance when spell checking LaTeX, where
+     * the string \"{A} represents the character Ä.
+     * @since 5.50
+     */
+    QVector<QPair<QChar, QString>> characterEncodings() const;
+
 private:
     friend class DefinitionData;
     friend class DefinitionRef;
diff --git a/src/lib/definition.cpp b/src/lib/definition.cpp
--- a/src/lib/definition.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/definition.cpp
@@ -286,6 +286,12 @@
     return { d->multiLineCommentStartMarker, d->multiLineCommentEndMarker };
 }
 
+QVector<QPair<QChar, QString>> Definition::characterEncodings() const
+{
+    d->load();
+    return d->characterEncodings;
+}
+
 Context* DefinitionData::initialContext() const
 {
     Q_ASSERT(!contexts.isEmpty());
@@ -580,6 +586,8 @@
                     loadFoldingIgnoreList(reader);
                 } else if (reader.name() == QLatin1String("comments")) {
                     loadComments(reader);
+                } else if (reader.name() == QLatin1String("spellchecking")) {
+                    loadSpellchecking(reader);
                 } else {
                     reader.skipCurrentElement();
                 }
@@ -668,6 +676,41 @@
     }
 }
 
+void DefinitionData::loadSpellchecking(QXmlStreamReader &reader)
+{
+    Q_ASSERT(reader.name() == QLatin1String("spellchecking"));
+    Q_ASSERT(reader.tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::StartElement);
+    reader.readNext();
+
+    // reference counter to count XML child elements, to not return too early
+    int elementRefCounter = 1;
+
+    while (!reader.atEnd()) {
+        switch (reader.tokenType()) {
+            case QXmlStreamReader::StartElement:
+                ++elementRefCounter;
+                if (reader.name() == QLatin1String("encoding")) {
+                    const auto charRef = reader.attributes().value(QStringLiteral("char"));
+                    if (!charRef.isEmpty()) {
+                        const auto str = reader.attributes().value(QStringLiteral("string")).toString();
+                        characterEncodings.push_back({ charRef[0], str });
+                    }
+                }
+                reader.readNext();
+                break;
+            case QXmlStreamReader::EndElement:
+                --elementRefCounter;
+                if (elementRefCounter == 0)
+                    return;
+                reader.readNext();
+                break;
+            default:
+                reader.readNext();
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 bool DefinitionData::checkKateVersion(const QStringRef& verStr)
 {
     const auto idx = verStr.indexOf(QLatin1Char('.'));
diff --git a/src/lib/definition_p.h b/src/lib/definition_p.h
--- a/src/lib/definition_p.h
+++ b/src/lib/definition_p.h
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
     void loadGeneral(QXmlStreamReader &reader);
     void loadComments(QXmlStreamReader &reader);
     void loadFoldingIgnoreList(QXmlStreamReader &reader);
+    void loadSpellchecking(QXmlStreamReader &reader);
     bool checkKateVersion(const QStringRef &verStr);
 
     KeywordList keywordList(const QString &name) const;
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@
     CommentPosition singleLineCommentPosition = CommentPosition::StartOfLine;
     QString multiLineCommentStartMarker;
     QString multiLineCommentEndMarker;
+    QVector<QPair<QChar, QString>> characterEncodings;
 
     QString fileName;
     QString name = QStringLiteral(QT_TRANSLATE_NOOP("Syntax highlighting", "None"));