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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

quill en · NOUN

Pronunciation

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.

Meanings

  1. 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. 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 77:
  3. (broadly) Any pen.
    • He picked up his quill and wrote a poem.
  4. 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.
    • I could a Tale vnfold, vvhoſe lighteſt vvord / VVould harrovv vp thy ſoule, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy tvvo eyes like Starres, ſtart from their Spheres, / Thy knotty and combined locks to part, / And each particular haire to ſtand an end, / Like Quilles vpon the fretfull Porpentine: […] c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v], page 257, column 2:
  5. A thin piece of bark, especially of cinnamon or cinchona, curled up into a tube.
  6. The pen of a squid.
  7. The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
  8. The tube of a musical instrument.
    • He touched the tender stops of various quills. 1637 (date written; published 1638), John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:
  9. 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. 1990, Stephen King, The Moving Finger:
  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. 1952 September, “A Landmark in French Electrification”, in Railway Magazine, page 593:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
quills Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

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

Synonyms

feather pen · quill pen · calamus

Translations (132)

ca càlam (pen made of feather) · io plumo (lower shaft of a feather) · sh перо (pen made of feather) · mk боцка (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · sq therrë (pen made of feather) · bg бодил (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · eo kalamo (lower shaft of a feather) · cs brk (lower shaft of a feather) · az pero (pen made of feather) · hu plajbász (any pen) · fr plume (pen made of feather) · mk перо (pen made of feather) · sv pigg (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · sh батрљица (lower shaft of a feather) · bg перо́ (pen made of feather) · sk pero (pen made of feather) · myv толга (lower shaft of a feather) · nv atʼákaz (lower shaft of a feather) · sk brko (pen made of feather) · cmn 鵝毛筆 /鹅毛笔 (pen made of feather) · ja 棘 (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · ru ство́л пера́ (lower shaft of a feather) · ar شَوْكَة (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · fr épine (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · gl péndola (pen made of feather) · pl dudka (lower shaft of a feather) · es péndola (pen made of feather) · it aculeo (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · nl ganzeveer (pen made of feather) · nb fjærpenn (pen made of feather) · nmn gǃqhàẽ (lower shaft of a feather) · fi sulkakynä (pen made of feather) · pdt Poos (lower shaft of a feather) · gl pluma (pen made of feather) · uk перо́ (pen made of feather) · he קולמוס (pen made of feather) · ka ღეპეპი (lower shaft of a feather) · tr ok (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · sk pichliač (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · fi putki (music: tube of a musical instrument) · la calamus (pen made of feather) · de Stachel (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · sv gåspenna (pen made of feather) · fo fjøðurpennur (pen made of feather) · fr piquant (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · sh kalem (lower shaft of a feather) · fi kynä (lower shaft of a feather) · de Schreibfeder (pen made of feather) · izh pero (pen made of feather) · sq therrë (lower shaft of a feather) · ka ფრთის ღერო (lower shaft of a feather) · fi piikki (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · mww koob (lower shaft of a feather) · cs pero (pen made of feather) · sh калем (lower shaft of a feather) · be пяро́ (pen made of feather) · is broddur (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · ko 가시 (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · ja 羽根ペン (pen made of feather) · vo penamaleplüm (pen made of feather) · el αγκάθι (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · be калю́чка (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · io plumo (pen made of feather) · fi piikki (something having the form of a quill) · ru игла́ (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · pl gęsie pióro (pen made of feather) · el πέννα (pen made of feather) · de Kiel (lower shaft of a feather) · eo plumo (any pen) · ko 깃펜 (pen made of feather) · ota اوق (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · da fjerpen (pen made of feather) · eo plumo (lower shaft of a feather) · ka ბატის ფრთა (pen made of feather) · fi kynä (any pen) · it penna (any pen) · ru гуси́ное перо́ (pen made of feather) · xal өдн (pen made of feather) · is fjaðurstafur (lower shaft of a feather) · sh bodlja (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · eo inkoskribilo (any pen) · mi tā (lower shaft of a feather) · sv bläckpenna (any pen) · ru иго́лка (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · ca pua (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · cmn 羽毛筆 /羽毛笔 (pen made of feather) · fo fjaðurpennur (pen made of feather) · ca canó (lower shaft of a feather) · uk го́лка (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · eo anserplumo (pen made of feather) · mi tuaka (lower shaft of a feather) · hu penna (pen made of feather) · sv vingpenna (pen made of feather) · sl pero (pen made of feather) · pl pióro (pen made of feather) · pa ਤੱਕਲ਼ਾ (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · ja 羽ペン (pen made of feather) · es cálamo (lower shaft of a feather) · th ปากกาขนนก (lower shaft of a feather) · sh bodljika (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · it calamo (pen made of feather) · nl ganzenveer (pen made of feather) · fo fjøður (pen made of feather) · it penna d'oca (pen made of feather) · th ปากกา (pen made of feather) · sh pero (pen made of feather) · es pluma (pen made of feather) · de Stift (any pen) · cmn 刺 (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · ru перо́ (pen made of feather) · fi selkäkilpi (pen of a squid) · pl dutka (lower shaft of a feather) · de Feder (pen made of feather) · sv fjäderpenna (pen made of feather) · tr diken (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · is fjaðurpenni (pen made of feather) · my ဖြူဆူး (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · ca ploma (pen made of feather) · gl cálamo (lower shaft of a feather) · es púa (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · it calamo (lower shaft of a feather) · es pluma (any pen) · de Federkiel (pen made of feather) · ar إِبْرَة (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · sh бодљика (needle-like structure that grows on the skin) · io plumo (any pen) · fr plume (lower shaft of a feather) · pt pena (pen made of feather) · sh batrljica (lower shaft of a feather) · fi kanelitanko (thin piece of bark, curled into a roll) · ko 깃털펜 (pen made of feather) · sh бодља (needle-like structure that grows on the skin)

quill en · VERB

Pronunciation

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.

Meanings

  1. 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. 1966, David Francis Costello, The World of the Porcupine, J. B. Lippincott & Company, page 66:
    • Then one of my dogs got quilled, and it happened again a month later. After putting the dog in a headlock, yanking out several dozen quills, and spurting blood all over myself and the decking of the back porch, I at least understood his antiporcupine venom. 2010, Mark Parman, A Grouse Hunter's Almanac: The Other Kind of Hunting, University of Wisconsin Press, →ISBN, page 49:
  2. (figuratively) To write.
    • Nibs never would have quilled a seriph to sheepskin. 1939 May 4, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, London: Faber and Faber Limited, →OCLC; republished London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1960, →OCLC, part I, page 182:
    • 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. 1976, Ed Sanders, Investigative Poetry, City Lights, published 1976, page 11:
  3. To form fabric into small, rounded folds.
  4. To decorate with quillwork.
    • Another characteristic of Plains Indians was the fairly strict division between art made and used by men and art made and used by women. Although men and women sometimes cooperated, women usually painted or quilled very balanced, controlled geometric designs on dresses, moccasins, robes, bags, and containers. 2007, David J. Wishart, Encyclopedia of the Great Plains Indians, University of Nebraska Press, published 2007, →ISBN, page 32:
  5. (Canada, US, qualifier:especially Appalachia and the Prairies, transitive) 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.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
quilled Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
quilled Tense=Past lexicographic
quilling Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
quills Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Translations (2)

bg надиплям (to form fabric into folds) · bg пиша (to write)