quill
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kwɪl/
ipa: [kʰw̥ɪl]
rhymes: -ɪl
Forms: form: quills
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.
Senses: synonyms: calamus
glosses: The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 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:
synonyms: feather pen
quill pen
glosses: A pen made from a feather.
examples: text: He picked up his quill and wrote a poem.
glosses: Any pen.
examples: text: 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: […]
ref: 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:
glosses: 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.
glosses: A thin piece of bark, especially of cinnamon or cinchona, curled up into a tube.
topics: biology
natural-sciences
zoology
glosses: The pen of a squid.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
examples: text: He touched the tender stops of various quills.
ref: 1637, John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: The tube of a musical instrument.
examples: text: His hair still stood up in punk-rock quills and spikes.
ref: 1990, Stephen King, The Moving Finger:
glosses: 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.
examples: text: The motors are attached to the bogie frames so as to be fully springborne, and drive through quills and flexible couplings to the wheels.
ref: 1952 September, “A Landmark in French Electrification”, in Railway Magazine, page 593:
topics: engineering
mechanical
mechanical-engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A quill drive, having a hollow shaft with another movable shaft inside it.
Derived terms: Big Quill
crow quill
piss in a quill
pure quill
quill bit
quill-driver
quill feather
quillless
quilllike
quill mite
quill pen
quill pig
quillwort