English
gill
Gill comes from Middle English gille.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gille
- Englishearliest quotation 1691gill
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gille
- Englishearliest quotation 1691gill
Earliest quotation: 1691, John Ray, London: […] Samuel Smith: “Fishes […] perform their respiration under water by the…”
The story
From Middle English gille, gylle (‘gill’), of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish gælle, Swedish gäl, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gjǫlnar (‘lips’), which also may have had the meaning of "gills" (based on Old Danish fiskegæln (‘gills’)). The Old Norse word has been suggested as deriving from Proto-Germanic *gelunō (‘jaw’), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel-, which would make it root-cognate to Ancient Greek χελύνη (khelúnē, “lip, jaw”), χεῖλος (kheîlos, “lip”).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Every English word from Middle English gille
Another origin of gill
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500gillo‘earthenware jar’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gille‘a wine measure’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishtodaygill
Another origin of gill
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-‘to yawn, gape’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gilją‘cleft’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350gil‘ravine, gully’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gille
- Englishtodaygill
Today it means
noun A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English gille / gill