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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

Bill en · PROPN

Pronunciation

  • [bɪɫ]
  • /bɪl/
  • (US) audio
  • bîl

Etymology

Hypocorism of William. It is unclear how the initial W became a B; this could have been part of the medieval trend of swapping letters, similar to Dick for Rick.

Meanings

  1. A diminutive of the male given name William.
    • Her tone shift involved former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton lampooning their fellow ex-president as a figure of ridicule. Then Harris closed the trap with a line in her convention speech: “Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences … of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.” 2024 August 26, Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s personal attacks aren’t just who he is. They’re his strategy”, in CNN:
    • One of his neighbours opposite, a nice old guy with a stoop and a horrible little Yorkshire terrier, called him Bill - always had done and presumably always would, right up till the day he died. It actually irritated Will, who was not, he felt, by any stretch of the imagination, a Bill. Bill wouldn't smoke spliffs and listen to Nirvana. So why had he allowed this misapprehension to continue? Why hadn't he just said, four years ago, "Actually my name is Will"? 1998, Nick Hornby, About A Boy, Victor Gollancz, published 1998, →ISBN, page 208:
    • "My other name's Bill," he said. "I was christened Bill but Mr Thursgood calls me William." / "Bill, eh. The unpaid Bill. Anyone ever call you that?" / "No, sir." / "Good name, anyway." / "Yes, sir." / "Known a lot of Bills. They've all been good 'uns." 1974, John le Carré, Tinker. Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Simon&Schuster, published 2002, →ISBN, page 7:
  2. (rare) A diminutive of the male given name Bilal.
    • Bill Essayli, Trump’s pick in April to temporarily lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, should have departed the post by July 31 under a 120-day limit imposed by federal law, U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright concluded. 2025 October 28, Kyle Cheney, Josh Gerstein, “Judge rules LA’s top federal prosecutor was illegally appointed”, in POLITICO:
  3. A surname.
  4. (UK, slang) A nickname for the British constabulary. Often called "The Bill" or "Old Bill"

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
Bills Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

Billy · Bill Williams River · Billie · Bill Wigglestick · Billster · Billiam · Billary

Relateds

Will

Translations (20)

ar بِيل (male given name) · hi बिल (male given name) · es Guille (male given name) · ko 빌 (male given name) · hu Vili (male given name) · pt Bill (male given name) · ru Билл (male given name) · fa بیل (male given name) · cmn 比爾 /比尔 (male given name) · pl Bill (male given name) · el Μπιλ (male given name) · bg Бил (male given name) · nl Bill (male given name) · hy Բիլ (male given name) · fo Bill (male given name) · ja ビル (male given name) · mi Piri (male given name) · uk Білл (male given name) · ar بِيل (male given name) · ka ბილ (male given name)