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Added 9 October 2026

gill

/ɡɪl/ noun

Categories: Describing WordsPlantsUncommon Words

In Latin: branchia Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about gill at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
  2. A gill slit or gill cover.
    Gill nets are designed to catch a fish by the gills.
  3. One of the radial folds on the underside of the cap of a mushroom, the surface of which bears the spore-producing organs.

verb

  1. To remove the gills from a fish as part of gutting and cleaning it.
  2. To catch (a fish) in a gillnet.
  3. To be or become entangled in a gillnet.

noun

  1. Any of several units of volume, most of which are a quarter of a pint or near to that amount. A drink measure for spirits and wine, a quarter of an imperial pint or near to that amount, but varying regionally. A unit of measure equal to 4 US fluid ounces (half a cup, a quarter of a US pint), approximately 118 milliliters.
  2. A drink measure for spirits and wine, a quarter of an imperial pint or near to that amount, but varying regionally.
  3. A unit of measure equal to 4 US fluid ounces (half a cup, a quarter of a US pint), approximately 118 milliliters.

noun

  1. A rivulet, small stream.
  2. A ravine.

Origin

From Middle English gille, gylle (“gill”), of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish gælle, Swedish gäl, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gjǫlnar (“lips”), which also may have had the meaning of "gills" (based on Old Danish fiskegæln (“gills”)). The Old Norse word has been suggested as deriving from Proto-Germanic *gelunō (“jaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel-, which would make it root-cognate to Ancient Greek χελύνη (khelúnē, “lip, jaw”), χεῖλος (kheîlos, “lip”). Displaced native Old English ċīe.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: branchialamellabranchialgillnetmeshgenerationjeljillgilgoodwinpurcelljil

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