quill

noun

/kwɪl/

Etymology

From late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather", probably from Low German and Middle Low German quiele, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce, stick”). Compare Middle High German kil (“large feather, quill”), which is derived from the Low German term.

derived from *gʷelH-✻ — “to pierce, stick”
derived from quiele
inherited from quyl

Definitions

The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
2
A pen made from a feather.
- The note was written in a delicate hand with a crow-quill, on primrose-coloured paper, with a lilac seal—the motto "tout à vous;" and the whole with just a faint perfume of jasmine.
3
Any pen.
- He picked up his quill and wrote a poem.
›+ 13 more definitionsshow fewer
1. A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the…
  A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the skin of a porcupine or hedgehog as a defense against predators.
2. A thin piece of bark, especially of cinnamon or cinchona, curled up into a tube.
3. The pen of a squid.
4. The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
5. 8
  The tube of a musical instrument.
  - He touched the tender stops of various quills.
6. 9
  Something having the form of a quill, such as the fold or plain of a ruff, or (weaving) a…
  Something having the form of a quill, such as the fold or plain of a ruff, or (weaving) a spindle, or spool, upon which the thread for the woof is wound in a shuttle.
  - His hair still stood up in punk-rock quills and spikes.
7. 10
  A quill drive, having a hollow shaft with another movable shaft inside it.
  - The motors are attached to the bogie frames so as to be fully springborne, and drive through quills and flexible couplings to the wheels.
8. 11
  To pierce with quills. (Usually in the passive voice, as be quilled or get quilled.)
  - Coyotes, bears, and mountain lions which occasionally kill porcupines are sometimes quilled.
9. 12
  To write.
  - Nibs never would have quilled a seriph to sheepskin.
  - One has only to recall that Coleridge and Wordsworth one day were lounging by the sea shore, while nearby sat an English police agent on snitch patrol prepared to rush to headquarters to quill a report about the conversation.
10. To form fabric into small, rounded folds.
11. To decorate with quillwork.
12. 15
  To subject (a woman who is giving birth) to the practice of quilling (blowing pepper into…
  To subject (a woman who is giving birth) to the practice of quilling (blowing pepper into her nose to induce or hasten labor).
  - For quotations using this term, see Citations:quill.
13. A surname from Irish.

The neighborhood

Derived

Big Quill, crow quill, goosequill, piss in a quill, pure quill, quillback, quill bit, quill-driver, quiller, quill feather, quillfish, quillless, quilllike, quillman, quill mite, quill pen, quill pig, quilltail, quillwort, quilly

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at quill. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at quill. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at quill

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA