Washington ? A 14-year-old Indiana boy mastered “autochthonous” to win the National Spelling Bee Thursday, outdueling 264 rivals, including one who fainted on stage but recovered to take second place.

David Tidmarsh covered his face with his hands, overwhelmed, after getting the winning word, which means indigenous. Moments earlier, he had hid behind his placard, then lowered it to show tears in his eyes, after nailing “gaminerie” — defined as an impudent or wisecracking spirit — to make the 15th and final round.

“I was just hoping that I got a word I studied,” David said. His chances were excellent — he spent months going through the dictionary.

David, an eighth-grader at the public Edison Intermediate Center in South Bend, won the top-prize package of $12,000 and an engraved cup from the bee, plus an additional $5,000, encyclopedias, a $1,000 savings bond and a reference library from other sponsors.

His path to victory went through words such as “arete,” “sophrosyne,” “sumpsimus,” and “serpiginous.”

David, surrounded by the media after his win, was asked whether he was a better speller than President Bush. He smiled and said, “I think so.”

And what about all that cash?

“I might put it in a savings account or something,” he said, adding, “I’ll probably take a little and spend it at the mall.”

In the end, he defeated Akshay Buddiga, a 13-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colo., who had briefly collapsed on stage rounds earlier.

Within seconds of crumpling, Akshay stood up and, to the amazement of the judges, immediately started spelling his word: “alopecoid,” which means like a fox. He got it perfectly, drawing a standing ovation.

Scripps-Howard President and Chief Executive Kenneth Lowe, right, presents David Tidmarsh, 14, of South Bend, Ind., with the winner's trophy after Tidmarsh won the 77th annual National Spelling Bee Thursday in Washington, D.C. Tidmarsh's mother, Janice Pilarksi, is at left.

He was led off stage for a medical check and returned for the next round.

“To me, that’s what you call grit,” said Paige Kimble, the bee director. “It was an extraordinary circumstance.”

Akshay competed under the watchful eye of his brother, Pratyush, who won the event two years ago.

The field for the 77th Scripps bee began with 265 spellers who had emerged from at least 9 million children who participated in local contests.

For the first time, spellers faced a strict time limit per word of two minutes, followed by a final 30-second period with a countdown clock, although they could claim one minute of bonus time once during the competition.

Akshay Buddiga, 13, of Colorado Springs, Colo., hits the floor after appearing to faint, during the National Spelling Bee Thursday in Washington, D.C. Akshay recovered, stood up and correctly spelled his word.