gillie

gillie · noun, verb¹

1. Old Norse · derived fromgildr“brawny, stout; of full worth”
2. Middle Irish · derived fromgilla“youth, young man; boy, male child; messenger, page, servant”
3. Scottish Gaelic · derived fromgille“helper”
4. English todaygillie

From Scottish Gaelic gille (“helper”), from Middle Irish gilla (“youth, young man; boy, male child; messenger, page, servant”), possibly borrowed from Old Norse gildr (“brawny, stout; of full worth”). Compare Irish giolla (“boy”).

gillie · noun²

From gill (“drink measure for spirits”) + -ie; probably a nonce word coined by Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759–1796) to maintain the rhyme in a poem entitled On a Scotch Bard Gone to the West Indies, first published in 1786: see the quotation.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 1786 A gill of an alcoholic drink.