bill

• IPA^(key): /bɪl/, enPR: bîl
  • (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): [bɪɫ]
  • (l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): [bɪo̯], [bɪʊ̯]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪl

From Middle English bille, from Anglo-Norman bille, from Old French bulle, from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal", "sealed document”). Compare bull.

bill (plural bills)

1. A written list or inventory. (Now obsolete except in specific senses or set phrases; bill of lading, bill of goods, etc.)
2. A document, originally sealed; a formal statement or official memorandum. (Now obsolete except with certain qualifying words; bill of health, bill of sale etc.)
3. A draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.

   Synonym: measure

   Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Prime Minister, I beg to introduce a bill entitled […]

   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], line 28:

     Why, I'll exhibit a bill in the parliament for the putting down of men.

   • 2012 December 14, Simon Jenkins, “We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys”, in The Guardian Weekly‎, volume 188, number 2, page 23:

     David Cameron insists that his latest communications data bill is “vital to counter terrorism”. Yet terror is mayhem. It is no threat to freedom. That threat is from counter-terror, from ministers capitulating to securocrats.

4. (obsolete, law) A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.
   • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:

     ... the legion of bills in the suit have been transformed into mere bills of mortality ...

5. (US, Canada) A piece of paper money; a banknote.
   • 1830, anonymous author, The Galaxy of Wit: Or, Laughing Philosopher, Being a Collection of Choice Anecdotes, Many of Which Originated in or about "The Literary Emporium":

     He gave the change for a three dollar bill. Upon examination, the bill proved to be counterfeit.

   • 1935, Cabins in the Laurel‎, University of North Carolina Press, published 19 March 2014, →ISBN, page 231:

     […] So I wropped 'em up in a five dollar bill and tied 'em up and sent 'em, and they ain't back yet.”

   • 1970, “Friend of the Devil”, performed by Grateful Dead:

     I ran into the Devil, babe, he loaned me 20 bills.

   1. (slang, Canada, US) One hundred dollars.
      • 1954, Budd Schulberg, On the Waterfront, Random House, page 25:

        There was no excuse, simply no excuse for not making four or five bills a week. A little initiative, that's all.

      • 1989, Carl Hiaasen, Skin Tight, Penguin Group, →ISBN, page 113:

        All we got from her was Stranahan's location, and barely that. A house in the bay, she said. A house with a windmill. Easiest five bills that woman ever made.

6. (slang, UK) One hundred pounds sterling.
   • 2023, BBC News: "Newport: Drugs gang jailed for exploiting vulnerable child"

     In the conversation Henshall says he ^[sic] "struggling to find people to go up the roads" explaining how it would be "no good for black people" and how they need a "young white boy to go up there".
     Stock agrees, saying how he knows "this kid" who "owes me 12 bills".

7. A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; an invoice.

   Synonyms: account, invoice

   • c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], line 85:

     My lord, here is my bill.

8. A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods

   Synonyms: broadsheet, broadside, card, circular, flier, flyer, handbill, poster, posting, placard, notice, throwaway

   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], line 104:

     In the meantime I will draw a bill of properties, such as our play wants.

9. A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document; a bill of exchange. In the United States, it is usually called a note, a note of hand, or a promissory note.

   Synonyms: bank bill, banker's bill, bank note, banknote, Federal Reserve note, government note, greenback, note

   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], line 8:

     Ay, and Rato-lorum too; and a gentleman born, Master Parson; who writes himself Armigero, in any bill, warrant, quittance, or obligation, Armigero.

10. A set of items presented together.
    • 2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian‎:

      Meanwhile, the bills on the main stages skewed towards mainstream pop, with mixed results. Lorde’s Friday evening Other stage appearance was one of the weekend’s highlights. The staging and choreography were fantastic – a giant glass tank on a hydraulic platform, in and around which a troupe of dancers acted out the highs and lows of a teenage party

• → Swahili: bili
• → Thai: บิล (bin)
• → Tokelauan: pili
• → Jamaican Creole: bills

• check

bill (third-person singular simple present bills, present participle billing, simple past and past participle billed)

1. (transitive) To advertise by a bill or public notice.

   Synonym: placard

   • 1962 October, G. Freeman Allen, “First impressions of the Clacton electric multiple-units”, in Modern Railways, page 260:

     [...] it will be recalled that in 1960 they were billed as the long-distance express multiple-units of the future, [...].

2. (transitive) To charge; to send a bill to.

   Synonym: charge

   • 1989, Michelle Green, Understanding Health Insurance: A Guide to Billing and Reimbursement:

     The physician explains that this is an option for her and that she can sign the facility's ABN so that if Medicare denies the claim, the facility can bill her for the scan.

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 (plural bills)

1. The beak of a bird, especially when small or flattish; sometimes also used with reference to a platypus, turtle, or other animal.

   Synonyms: beak, neb, nib, pecker

   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], line 125:

     The woosel cock so black of hue, With orange-tawny bill, The throstle with his note so true, The wren with little quill […]

   • 2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, page 7]”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 23 December 2014:

     […] The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the seeds' getting glued to the tree, where they can germinate and begin the cycle anew.

2. A beak-like projection, especially a promontory.

   There is a lighthouse on Portland Bill.

3. Of a cap or hat: the brim or peak, serving as a shade to keep sun off the face and out of the eyes.

bill (third-person singular simple present bills, present participle billing, simple past and past participle billed)

1. (obsolete) to peck
2. to stroke bill against bill, with reference to doves; to caress in fondness
   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

     As the ox hath his bow, sir, the horse his curb and the falcon her bells, so man hath his desires; and as pigeons bill, so wedlock would be nibbling.

• bill and coo

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 (plural bills)

1. Any of various bladed or pointed hand weapons, originally designating an Anglo-Saxon sword, and later a weapon of infantry, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, commonly consisting of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, with a short pike at the back and another at the top, attached to the end of a long staff.

   Synonym: polearm

   • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, […], London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC:

     In the British Museum there is an entry of a warrant, granted to Nicholas Spicer, authorising him to impress smiths for making two thousand Welch bills or glaives.

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     France had no infantry that dared to face the English bows and bills.

2. A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle, used in pruning, etc.; a billhook.

   Synonyms: billhook, hand bill, hedgebill

3. Somebody armed with a bill; a billman.

   Synonym: billman

4. A pickaxe or mattock.
5. (nautical) The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke (also called the peak).

bill (third-person singular simple present bills, present participle billing, simple past and past participle billed)

1. (transitive) To dig, chop, etc., with a bill.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

bill (plural bills)

1. The bell, or boom, of the bittern.
   • 1793, William Wordsworth, An Evening Walk:

     The bittern's hollow bill was heard.

From a pronunciation spelling of build.

bill (third-person singular simple present bills, present participle billing, simple past and past participle billed)

1. (transitive, intransitive, UK, slang) To roll up a marijuana cigarette.

From Middle High German wille, from Old High German willo, from Proto-Germanic *wiljô (“will, wish, desire”). Cognate with German Wille, English will.

bill m

1. (Sette Comuni) will (legal document)

   Synonym: testamentén

From Middle High German wilde, from Old High German wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþī, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz (“wild”). Cognate with German wild, English wild.

bill (comparative billor, superlative dar billorste) (Sette Comuni)

1. wild, crazy, mad
2. wild (not domesticated)
3. stupid

• billa gòas
• billa hénna
• billar haano
• billar balt
• billekhot
• dorbìllaran

• “bill” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Compare German bisschen.

bill

1. (Erzgebirgisch) (often with e or a) (a) little

   Namm liebr e bill meh!

   Better take a little more!

• 2020 June 11, Hendrik Heidler, Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch‎, 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 23:

Borrowed from English bill; doublet of bulle (“bubble”).

• IPA^(key): /bil/

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

bill m (plural bills)

1. (law) bill (draft UK law)
2. (Canada) bill (invoice in a restaurant etc)

• “bill”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): /bill/, [biɫ]

bill n

1. Alternative form of bil

• IPA^(key): /bɪl/
• Rhymes: -ɪl

From Old Swedish bilder, from Old Norse bíldr, from Proto-Germanic *bīþlaz (“axe”). An instrumental derivation of *bītaną (“to bite”). Closely related to bila (“broadaxe”).

bill c

1. (agriculture) a share; the cutting blade of a plough

• plogbill

Borrowed from English bill, from Middle English bille, from Anglo-Norman bille, from Old French bulle, from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal, sealed document”). Doublet of bulla.

bill c

1. (law) a draft of a law in English-speaking countries

• bill in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)