fillip
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɪlɪp/
homophone: Philip
homophone: Phillip
Forms: form: fillips
Etymology: From Middle English filippen, philippe (“to flick or snap a finger from against the thumb”); further origin uncertain, but probably imitative. See flip. It is not clear whether the verb is derived from the noun, or vice versa.
Senses: examples: text: And let him ſuppoſe, that if a Man in the beginning of the World, or four or five hundred Years ago, had laid a little round Marble upon a Table, and to put the ſame in Motion, had given it a Fillip with his Finger; the ſaid Marble, according to the abovemention'd Law of Nature, would (if no other Force had oppos'd its Motion) have moved to this very Minute with the ſame Velocity in a Right-Line, and without ceaſing, would have continued to run in the ſame Line ſuch a Length, as no Man could determine the end of.
ref: 1724, [Bernard] Nieuwentyt, “Contemplation XXVI. Of Certain Laws of Nature.”, in John Chamberlayne, transl., The Religious Philosopher: Or, The Right Use of Contemplating the Works of the Creator. […] In Two Volumes. […] Translated from the Low-Dutch. […], 3rd edition, London: Printed for J. Senex, […]; E. Taylor, […]; W. and J. Innys, […]; and J. Osborne, […], →OCLC, section XV (The First Motion Proves a God; […]), page 484:
glosses: The action of holding the tip of a finger against the thumb and then releasing it with a snap; a flick.
examples: text: The blasphemy done to a mortal man is punished with the sword, and shall the blasphemy done to God escape think you with a fillip in the forehead, or with the knock of a little wooden betel, as it is begun to be punished in certain men's houses now of late? Nay, verily. It is no fillip matter except we will admit such a fillip as shall fillip them down into the bottom of hell-fire. God is no puppet, nor a babe. It is not a fillip that can wipe away the blasphemy of his most blessed name, before his high throne and glorious majesty.
ref: 1543, Thomas Becon [i.e., Thomas Beccon], “An Invective against the Most Wicked and Detestable Vice of Swearing”, in Writings of the Rev. Thomas Becon, […] (British Reformers; 10), London: Printed [by William Clowes] for the Religious Tract Society, and sold at the depository, […]; also by J. Nisbet, […], published 1831, →OCLC, page 129:
text: Arch[ers]. In default of six pistoles, / Choose then without ado / To receive thirty fillips, / Or twelve blows with the stick. / Punch. If it must be, and that I must pass through that, I choose the fillips.
ref: 1876, Molière [pseudonym; Jean-Baptiste Poquelin], “The Imaginary Invalid”, in Henri van Laun, transl., The Dramatic Works of Molière: Rendered into English […], volume VI, Edinburgh: William Paterson, →OCLC, act II, scene viii, page 263:
glosses: A sharp strike or tap made using this action, or (by extension) by other means.
examples: text: Eat, drink and love; the rest's not worth a fillip.
ref: 1821, Lord Byron, “Sardanapalus”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 20:
text: Now among the treasures in the palace of the Dragon King of the World Under the Sea were two jewels having wondrous power over the tides. [...] Whoever owned them had the power to make the tides instantly rise or fall at his word, to make the dry land appear, or the sea overwhelm it, in the fillip of a finger.
ref: 1880, William Elliot Griffis, Japanese Fairy World. Stories from the Wonder-lore of Japan, Schenectady, N.Y.: James H. Barhyte, →OCLC, pages 276–277:
glosses: Something unimportant, a trifle; also, the brief time it takes to flick one's finger (see noun sense 1); a jiffy.
examples: text: This measure gave a fillip to the housing market.
text: The athlete’s victory provided a much-needed fillip for national pride.
text: He sat at the head of the table with his hat on, and an eye beaming even more luminously than his nose. He had a quiz and a fillip for every one, and a good thing on every occasion.
ref: 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Club of Queer Fellows”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 2 (Buckthorne and His Friends), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC, page 22:
text: Changes, however, such as we all require, must by no means be confused with fillips—artificial stimulants, which are bad for everybody. These last may be easily recognised and known for what they are, by their suddenness and violence, as well as by the temporary character of their effects.
ref: 1867 May 4, “Changes and Fillips”, in William, Robert Chambers, editors, Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Art, number 175 (4th series), London; Edinburgh: Printed and published by W. & R. Chambers […], →OCLC, page 274, column 1:
text: Some branches [of the Wolverhampton iron and steel trade] are quiet, a few are slack, but generally they are, for the most part, well employed. The outlook cannot be so well gauged. It only requires a bit of a spurt to give a fillip to several branches, and these would stimulate the rest.
ref: 1903 July 10, “The Late Mr. James M. Gale”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Maw, J[ames] Dredge [Jr.], editors, Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume LXXVI, London: Offices for advertisements and publication—35 & 36, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 62, column 1:
text: The outline could apply to most of the self-effacing, increasingly inward-looking comedies written and directed by Hong Sang-soo, and it certainly describes "The Day He Arrives," an agreeably meandering exercise that brings some clever French New Wave fillips and structural repetitions to Hong's characteristically boozy party.
ref: 2011 May 25, Justin Chang, “The Day He Arrives [film review]”, in Variety, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Jun 2017:
text: Labor has emerged victorious in critical byelection contests in Tasmania and Queensland in a significant fillip for the federal leader, Bill Shorten, boosting its primary vote in Longman and harvesting the lion’s share of preferences in Braddon.
ref: 2018 July 28, Katharine Murphy, “Super Saturday elections: Shorten passes test as Labor wins ‘four from four’”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Jul 2019:
text: In a fillip to the Labour government, the Washington-based organisation said it expected the UK economy to grow by 1.6% in 2025, up from an earlier forecast of 1.5%.
ref: 2025 January 17, Philip Inman, “IMF upgrades UK growth forecast and takes swipe at Trump plans”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media:
glosses: Something that excites or stimulates.