bill

pronunciation

How to pronounce bill in British English: UK [bɪl] word uk audio image

How to pronounce bill in American English: US [bɪl] word us audio image

Noun:

a statute in draft before it becomes law
an itemized statement of money owed for goods shipped or services rendered
a piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank)
the entertainment offered at a public presentation
a list of particulars (as a playbill or bill of fare)
an advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution
horny projecting mouth of a bird
a sign posted in a public place as an advertisement
a long-handled saw with a curved blade
a brim that projects to the front to shade the eyes
Verb:

demand payment
advertise especially by posters or placards
publicize or announce by placards

Word Origin

bill: bill: There are three distinct words bill in English (not counting the proper name), and of them all, the most recent is the commonest. Bill ‘note of charges’ [14] comes from Anglo-Latin billa, which is probably a variant of Latin bulla ‘_document, seal’ (as in ‘papal bull’). English billet [15], as in ‘billeting soldiers on a house’, was originally a diminutive form of billa (French billet ‘letter’ comes from the same source). Bill ‘hook-bladed weapon’ [OE], now found mainly in billhook, comes from a prehistoric West Germanic *bilja, which may be based ultimately on Indo-European *bhid-, source of English bite. Bill ‘beak’ [OE] may be related to bill ‘weapon’, but this is not clear.The verbal sense ‘caress’, as in ‘bill and coo’, is 16th-century; it arose from the courting behaviour of doves stroking each other’s beaks.=> billet

bill (n.1): "written statement," mid-14c., from Anglo-French bille, Anglo-Latin billa "list," from Medieval Latin bulla "decree, seal, sealed document," in classical Latin "bubble, boss, stud, amulet for the neck" (hence "seal;" see bull (n.2)). Sense of "account, invoice" first recorded c. 1400; that of "order to pay" (technically bill of exchange) is from 1570s; that of "paper money" is from 1660s. Meaning "draft of an act of Parliament" is from 1510s.

bill (n.2): "bird's beak," Old English bill "bill, bird's beak," related to bill, a poetic word for a kind of sword (especially one with a hooked blade), from a common Germanic word for cutting or chopping weapons (compare Old High German bihal, Old Norse bilda "hatchet," Old Saxon bil "sword"), from PIE root *bheie- "to cut, to strike" (cognates: Armenian bir "cudgel," Greek phitos "block of wood," Old Church Slavonic biti "to strike," Old Irish biail "ax"). Used also in Middle English of beak-like projections of land (such as Portland Bill).

bill (v.): "to send someone a bill of charge," 1864, from bill (n.1). Related: Billed; billing.

bill (n.3): ancient weapon, Old English bill "sword (especially one with a hooked blade), chopping tool," common Germanic (compare Old Saxon bil "sword," Middle Dutch bile, Dutch bijl, Old High German bihal, German Beil, Old Norse bilda "hatchet." See bill (n.2).