different between gill vs jill

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English gile (“gill”) (early 14th century), of Scandinavian origin, akin to Swedish gäl, Danish gælle, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gj?lnar (“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 *gelunaz (“jaw”), which would make it root-cognate to Ancient Greek ?????? (khelun?, “lip, jaw”), ?????? (kheîlos, “lip”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Noun

gill (plural gills)

1. (animal anatomy) a breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals

   • Fishes […] perform their respiration under water by the gills.

2. (of a fish) a gill slit or gill cover

3. (mycology) one of the radial folds on the underside of the cap of a mushroom, on the surface of which the spore-producing organs are borne

   Synonym: lamella

4. (animal anatomy) the fleshy flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl; a wattle
5. (figuratively) the flesh under or about the chin; a wattle
   • 1728, Jonathan Swift, Ballad on Ballyspellin

     dropsy fills you to the gills

6. (spinning) one of the combs of closely ranged steel pins which divide the ribbons of flax fiber or wool into fewer parallel filaments

Synonyms

• branchia

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• lung

Verb

gill (third-person singular simple present gills, present participle gilling, simple past and past participle gilled)

1. To remove the gills from a fish as part of gutting and cleaning it.
2. (transitive) To catch (a fish) in a gillnet.
   • 1898, Report of the Commissioner of Fisheries to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, page 255:

     Owing to the peculiar shape of the pompano and the relatively large mesh in the pompano gill nets, the fish are not caught by being actually gilled.

   • 1971, Michael Culley, G. A. Kerkut, The Pilchard: Biology and Exploitation ?ISBN, page 70:

     In cases of very heavy catches the nets may be hauled and stored with the fish still gilled. The fish would then be shaken out on return to the port.

   • 1994, G.D. Pickett, M.G. Pawson, Sea Bass: Biology ?ISBN, page 177:

     The intention is to gill the fish, so they are usually scared into the net by rowing one boat into the middle of the net circle and banging the oars on the boat bottom or splashing the water.

3. (intransitive) To be or become entangled in a gillnet.

Etymology 2

From Middle English gille, from Old French gille (“a wine measure”), from Medieval Latin gillo (“earthenware jar”), possibly from Gaulish gall? (“vessel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??l/
• Rhymes: -?l
• Homophone: Jill

Noun

gill (plural gills)

2. a drink measure for spirits and wine (size varies regionally but it is about one quarter of a pint)
3. (archaic, Britain) a measuring jug holding a quarter or half a pint

Derived terms

• gillhouse
• gillie

Etymology 3

From Middle English gille, from Old Norse gil

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Noun

gill (plural gills)

1. (Britain) rivulet
2. (Britain) ravine

Derived terms

• Lowgill, Low Gill

Etymology 4

Etymology uncertain.

Noun

gill (plural gills)

1. a two-wheeled frame for transporting timber

Etymology 5

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

Noun

gill (plural gills)

1. (Scotland) a leech

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Jamieson to this entry?)

Etymology 6

Clipping of gillian, from the female name Gillian.

Alternative forms

• jill

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??l/

Noun

gill (plural gills)

1. a female ferret
2. (obsolete) a promiscuous woman; harlot, wanton
3. (obsolete) a prostitute

Synonyms

• (promiscuous woman): see Thesaurus:promiscuous woman
• (prostitute): see Thesaurus:prostitute

Verb

gill (third-person singular simple present gills, present participle gilling, simple past and past participle gilled)

1. (obsolete) To act as a prostitute.

Synonyms

• see Thesaurus:prostitute oneself

Irish

Noun

gill m

1. vocative/genitive singular of geall (“pledge, security; wager, bet; gage, challenge; palm, prize; supremacy; token, promise; assets”)

Mutation

References

• "gill" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

Scots

Etymology 1

Compare English gill.

Noun

gill (plural gills)

1. a measure of liquid equivalent to one-fourth of a mutchkin or three quarters of an Imperial gill, about 110 millilitres; (by extension) a serving of drink
2. a vessel with a capacity of one gill

Derived terms

• Hawick gill

Verb

gill (third-person singular present gills, present participle gilling, past gill'd, past participle gill'd)

1. to drink, tipple

Etymology 2

From Old Norse gil, Norwegian gjel (“gorge, ravine”), attested a. 1500.

Noun

gill (plural gills)

1. a narrow valley with steep sides, a gully

References

• “gill” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Scottish Gaelic

Noun

gill m

1. inflection of geall (“bet, wager”):
   1. vocative/genitive singular
   2. nominative/dative plural

Mutation

English

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Etymology 1

By analogy with jack (off). See Jack (“male name”) and Jill (“female name”).

Verb

jill (third-person singular simple present jills, present participle jilling, simple past and past participle jilled)

1. (uncommon, vulgar, slang, of a female) To masturbate.
   • 1997 June 21, 1st try. Sex with mom's friend (teenM/olderF), in alt.sex.stories, Usenet:

     Sue was fingering herself in my bed. IN MY BED. I couldn't believe it. I tried to pretend that I was still asleep but she caught me peeking as she was jilling herself.

   • 2002, Hanne Blank, Unruly Appetites: Erotic Stories, p. xiv:

     I jilled while babysitting, having found a cache of skeezy porno mags hidden at the bottom of a big basket of magazines in one family's master bathroom.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:jill.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:masturbate

Derived terms

• jill off (synonymous, more common)

Etymology 2

From the female name Jill.

Noun

jill (plural jills)

1. A female ferret.

   • Below ground, in the maze of tunnels excavated by the rabbits over many, many years, five of our jill, or bitch, ferrets were running loose[...]. A white jill popped out of the hole nearest men slithered through the net mesh and disappeared down an adjacent entrance.

   • In 1989 I obtained a hob from Curtis Price from one of my own jills mated to my own hob, for living as I do at the very edge of Britain it is not practicable to breed litters of ferrets to obtain a single replacement. Hence I lend out my best mated jills and receive a single ferret kitten from each litter.

   • I prefer to use Jills on my ferreting jobs. All are fitted with transmitter collars, and I would never work a ferret without one. That said, I always make sure I have a large Hob ferret with me because sometimes he will shift stubborn rabbits where the Jills have failed.

   Coordinate term: (sex) hob

Etymology 3

From the female name Jill; paired with jack (from the male name Jack) as terms for alcohol measurements.

Noun

jill (plural jills)

1. Misspelling of gill.