bill

bill · noun, verb¹

1. Medieval Latin · derived frombulla“seal, sealed document”
2. Old French · derived frombulle
3. Anglo-Norman · derived frombille
4. Middle English · inherited frombille
5. English todaybill

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.

bill · noun, verb²

1. Old English · inherited frombile“beak (of a bird); trunk (of an elephant)”
2. Middle English · inherited frombill
3. English todaybill

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).

bill · noun, verb³

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰeyH-“to strike; beat”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*bilją“axe; sword; blade”
3. Old English · inherited frombil
4. Middle English · inherited frombill
5. English todaybill

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”).

bill · noun⁴

Onomatopoeic.

bill · verb⁵

Pronunciation spelling of build.

Bill · proper noun⁶

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.

Words from the same roots