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35,981 English word records · 45,491 etymology sections in this online subset
PARTIAL ENGLISH COVERAGE · FULL CORPUS REMAINS LOCAL7 source sections across 2 headwords matching “Bill”. These are separate from the reviewed results below.
BillEnglish (en) · Unnumbered etymologySource text
Hypocorism of William. It is unclear how the initial W became a B; this could have been part of the medieval trend of swapping letters, similar to Dick for Rick.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗billEnglish (en) · Etymology 1Source text
From Middle English bille, from Anglo-Norman bille, from Old French bulle, from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal, sealed document”). Doublet of bull (“papal bull; bubble”) and bulla.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗billEnglish (en) · Etymology 1Source text
From Middle English bille, from Anglo-Norman bille, from Old French bulle, from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal, sealed document”). Doublet of bull (“papal bull; bubble”) and bulla.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗billEnglish (en) · Etymology 2Source text
From Middle English bill, bil, bille, bile, from Old English bile (“beak (of a bird); trunk (of an elephant)”), of unknown origin. Perhaps from a special use of Old English bil, bill (“hook; sword”) (see below).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗billEnglish (en) · Etymology 3Source text
From Middle English bill, bille, bil, from Old English bil, bill (“a hooked point; curved weapon; two-edged sword”), from Proto-Germanic *bilją (“axe; sword; blade”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyH- (“to strike; beat”). Cognate with West Frisian bile (“axe”), Dutch bijl (“axe”), German Bille (“axe”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗billEnglish (en) · Etymology 4Source text
Onomatopoeic.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗billEnglish (en) · Etymology 5Source text
Pronunciation spelling of build.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY
More sources for this spelling
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Chambers (1908)
1908- BillEnglish · e-37683-2898
Bill, bil, n. a kind of concave battle-axe with a long wooden handle: a kind of hatchet with a long blade and wooden handle in the same line with it, often with a hooked point, used in cutting thorn hedges or in pruning.
Read the full source record → - BillEnglish · e-37683-2899
Bill, bil, n. the beak of a bird, or anything like it, applied even to a sharp promontory, as Portland Bill: the point of the fluke of an anchor—hence Bill′-board, n., used to protect the planking from being injured by t
Read the full source record → - BillEnglish · e-37683-2900
Bill, bil, n. an account of money: a draft of a proposed law: a written engagement to pay a sum of money at a fixed date: a placard or advertisement: any written statement of particulars: in the criminal law of England,
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