Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs. · A pen made from a feather. · Any pen. · A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the skin of a porcupine or hedgehog as a defense against predators.
To pierce with quills. (Usually in the passive voice, as be quilled or get quilled.) · To write. · To form fabric into small, rounded folds. · To decorate with quillwork.
From late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather", probably from Low German and Middle Low German quiele, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce, stick”). Compare Middle High German kil (“large feather, quill”), which is derived from the Low German term.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 7 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "quyl"
},
"expansion": "Middle English quyl"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "nds",
"3": "-"
},
"expansion": "Low German"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gml",
"3": "quiele"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German quiele"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*gʷelH-",
"t": "to pierce, stick"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce, stick”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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"3": "",
"4": "large feather, quill"
},
"expansion": "Middle High German kil (“large feather, quill”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"quyl",
"quyl#Middle_English"
],
[
"quiele",
"quiele#Middle_Low_German"
],
[
"*gʷelH-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/gʷelH-"
],
[
"kil",
"kil#Middle_High_German"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.",
"A pen made from a feather.",
"Any pen.",
"A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the skin of a porcupine or hedgehog as a defense against predators."
],
"tags": [
"broadly"
],
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{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To pierce with quills. (Usually in the passive voice, as be quilled or get quilled.)",
"To write.",
"To form fabric into small, rounded folds.",
"To decorate with quillwork."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively"
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}
}