grille

Etymology

It is borrowed from French grille (“grating”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Old French greille (“gridiron”), also graille,^[2][7][3][5] from Vulgar Latin *grātīcula,^[5][8] a form of Latin crātīcula (“gridiron; fine wickerwork”),^[2][4][9] a diminutive of crātis (“hurdle, wickerwork”).^[2][9][10] The OED compares Italian graticola.^[2] Etymonline suggests that the Latin noun may come from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *kert- (“to turn, entwine”).^[3] The French distinction between grille, a grating, and gril (“gridiron”) appears to date from about the 16th century.^[2][3] The word is a doublet of grill and griddle,^[4] and is related to crate and grate.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

One of the bars in the visor of a helmet: 1661, in S. Morgan's Sphere of Gentry; this sense is not recorded after the 17th century.^[2][11] Etymonline and Barnhart date the word to the 1660s and 1661, with the sense "ornamental grating".^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, a grating or open metalwork closing an opening or dividing one part of a room from another, is recorded from 1686, in Bishop Burnet's letters from Switzerland;^[2][7] Merriam-Webster gives it as the word's first known use.^[7] In real tennis the grille is the square opening in the end wall, recorded from 1700;^[2] the 1989 edition of the OED dated this sense to 1727.^[12] The 19th century added technical senses: a frame of glass tubes holding fish eggs during hatching (1883) and a pattern of small dots pressed into some postage stamps (1887).^[2] The best-known modern sense, the grating in front of a motor vehicle's radiator, appears in 1930,^[2] and in this sense the word is often shortened to grill.^[3] The spelling grill is also usual in slang senses: the face or mouth (1988, as in up in one's grill) and, originally in African American usage, a decorative mouthpiece worn over the teeth (1998).^[2] The verb, to fit with a grille or fence off with one, is recorded from 1848.^[2]

Timeline

• 1661 – one of the bars in the visor of a helmet (now obsolete).^[2][4]
• 1686 – a grating or open metalwork screen closing an opening or dividing a room.^[2][7]
• 1700 – in real tennis, the square opening in the end wall of the court.^[2]
• 1848 – verb, to fit with a grille.^[2]
• 1883 – a frame holding fish eggs during incubation.^[2]
• 1887 – a pattern of dots impressed on postage stamps.^[2]
• 1930 – the grating in front of a motor vehicle's radiator.^[2]
• 1988 – as grill, slang, the face or mouth.^[2]
• 1998 – as grill, a decorative mouthpiece worn over the teeth.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A grating or screen of bars, often of ornamental wrought iron or other metalwork, that closes or protects an opening such as a door or window, or divides a space: A bronze grille protected the bank teller.^[9][7][2]
2. A grating at the front of a motor vehicle that lets cooling air reach the radiator; a radiator grille.^[9][7][2]
3. A protective screen of metal or plastic in front of a loudspeaker.^[9]
4. In real tennis, the square opening in the end wall of the court.^[9][2]
5. (slang, usually spelled grill) A decorative mouthpiece, usually of gold or silver, worn over the teeth.^[2]
6. (obsolete, 17th century) One of the bars in the visor of a helmet.^[2][11]

Verb

1. To fit with a grille, or to fence off with one.^[2][11]

Adjective

1. Of table cutlery: in a style with an unusually long handle and a short blade or prongs.^[7]

Related words

• grill
• griddle
• crate
• grate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
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 y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press