bill

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɪl/^[1]

bill¹ written statement

Etymology

The written statement is inherited from Middle English bille, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bille (“list, schedule, account”) and Anglo-Latin billa,^[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin bulla (“decree, seal, sealed document”),^[2][5][6] from Latin bulla (“bubble, boss, stud, amulet”), the source of bull “papal edict”.^[2][7][6] Barnhart takes the Anglo-French word as a blend of Old French bille “stick of wood” with bulle “decree”,^[3] and Hoad calls it of uncertain origin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A formal plea or charge in law: about 1370, in Chaucer's An A.B.C.,^[3] and a written document generally about 1374.^[9] A petition to someone in authority is from 1321.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that in the Middle Ages a bill was any written statement or list, a sense surviving in a clean bill of health.^[7] A written list or inventory is from 1404.^[10] A statement of goods sold or services given, a bill of charges, is from about 1400,^[2] or 1420.^[10] A public notice or poster is from the late 15th century,^[2] the draft of a law presented to a legislature from the 1510s,^[2] and an order to pay, a bill of exchange, from the 1570s.^[2] Paper money is a bill from the 1660s,^[2] now chiefly in American use;^[4] in parts of England a banknote was also a bill.^[11] The verb “to send a bill to” is from 1864^[2] or 1867,^[9] and “to announce by bill” from 1694.^[9]

Timeline

• 1321 – a petition.^[9]
• c. 1370 – a formal charge in law (Chaucer).^[3]
• c. 1400 – a statement of charges.^[2]
• late 15th century – a poster.^[2]
• 1510s – a draft law.^[2]
• 1570s – a bill of exchange.^[2]
• 1660s – paper money.^[2]
• 1694 – verb, to advertise.^[9]
• 1864 – verb, to charge.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An itemized statement of charges; an invoice.
2. A list of particulars, such as a theatre programme or menu; the entertainment on a programme.
3. A public notice or poster.
4. (chiefly US) A piece of paper money.
5. A draft of a proposed law.
6. A bill of exchange; a promissory note.

Verb

1. To send a statement of charges to.
2. To advertise or schedule by public notice or as part of a programme.

Word family

• billing
• billable
• billboard
• billposter
• bill of fare
• bill of rights
• bill of sale

bill² beak

Etymology

The beak is inherited from Middle English bile, inherited from Old English bile (“beak”),^[3][12][13] of unknown origin according to the SOED and the COED.^[4][14] Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster relate it to Old English bill, the weapon (see bill³).^[2][3][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bird's beak: Old English bile, about 1000,^[3] or before 1000.^[9]

Semantic evolution

A beaklike projection, such as a narrow promontory, is from 1382,^[9][10] as in Portland Bill.^[2][4] The point of an anchor's fluke is from 1769.^[9] The verb, of doves, “to stroke bill with bill” is from 1592,^[9] and of lovers, “to caress”, from 1606;^[9] bill and coo is by 1768.^[2] The visor of a cap is a bill in American use.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old English bile.^[3]
• 1382 – a promontory.^[9]
• 1592 – verb, of doves.^[9]
• 1606 – verb, to caress.^[9]
• 1768 – bill and coo.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The horny jaws of a bird; a beak.
2. A beaklike mouth part, as of a turtle or platypus.
3. The visor of a cap.
4. A narrow promontory.
5. The tip of the fluke of an anchor.

Verb

1. To touch beaks together; to caress: bill and coo.

Word family

• billfish
• duckbill
• spoonbill
• broadbill

bill³ weapon, billhook

Etymology

The weapon is inherited from Middle English bil, inherited from Old English bill (“sword, chopping tool”),^[2][3][12] from Proto-Germanic *bilją,^[2] a word for cutting or chopping weapons.^[2] Its cognates include Old Saxon bil (“sword”), Old High German bill (“pickaxe”), Dutch bijl (“axe”) and German Beil (“hatchet”).^[2][4][5] Etymonline suggests Proto-Indo-European *bheie- (“to cut, to strike”), comparing Old Church Slavonic biti “to strike” and Old Irish biail “axe”.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A kind of sword in Old English poetry: about 725, in Beowulf,^[3] and earlier in the compound wudubil “pruning hook”, about 700.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A pruning implement for cutting wood and hedges is from about 1000.^[9] A medieval infantry weapon like a halberd with a hooked blade is from about 1300,^[9] and a similar staff carried by constables of the watch until the late 18th century from 1589.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 700 – Old English wudubil.^[3]
• c. 725 – a sword (Beowulf).^[3]
• c. 1000 – a pruning tool.^[9]
• c. 1300 – a halberd-like weapon.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A billhook.
2. (historical) A halberd or similar long-handled weapon with a hooked blade.

Word family

• billhook
• billman

Related words

• bull
• bulletin
• billet

Usage notes

In British slang, the Bill or the Old Bill is the police, from 1939, from the nickname for William.^[9][4] The OED also records a rare bill “the boom of the bittern”.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
14. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin