different between gillie vs willie

English

Etymology 1

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: g?l??, IPA^(key): /???li/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??ili/
• Rhymes: -?li
• Hyphenation: gil?lie

Noun

gillie (plural gillies)

1. (Scotland, originally) A male attendant of a Scottish Highland chief.
2. (Britain, Ireland, Scotland) A fishing and hunting guide; a man or boy who attends to a person who is fishing or hunting, especially in Scotland.

Alternative forms

• ghillie
• gilly

Derived terms

• ghillie suit, gillie suit
• gillie-casflue
• gillie-wetfoot

Translations

Verb

gillie (third-person singular simple present gillies, present participle gillying, simple past and past participle gillied)

1. (intransitive) To be a gillie, a fishing or hunting guide, for (someone).

Etymology 2

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: j?l??, IPA^(key): /?d??li/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d?ili/
• Rhymes: -?li
• Hyphenation: gil?lie

Noun

gillie (plural gillies)

1. (Scotland) A gill of an alcoholic drink. [from 1786]

Further reading

• gillie on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w?li/
• Rhymes: -?li

Noun

willie (plural willies)

1. Alternative spelling of willy

See also

• the willies

Afrikaans

Contraction

willie

1. Contraction of wil nie.