From Middle English gille, gylle, of gmq - origin, akin to Danish gælle, Swedish gäl, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gjǫlnar, which also may have had the meaning of "gills" (based on Old Danish fiskegæln).

Displaced native Old English ċīe.

• IPA: /ɡɪl/

gill (plural gills)

1. (animal anatomy) A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
   • 1691, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. […], London: […] Samuel Smith, […], →OCLC ↗:

     Fishes […] perform their respiration under water by the gills.

2. (of a fish) A gill slit or gill cover.

   Gill nets are designed to catch a fish by the gills.

3. (mycology) One of the radial folds on the underside of the cap of a mushroom, the surface of which bears the spore-producing organs.

   Synonyms: lamella

4. (animal anatomy) The fleshy flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl; a wattle.
5. (figuratively) The flesh under or about the chin; a wattle.
   • 1728, Jonathan Swift, Ballad on Ballyspellin:

     dropsy fills you to the gills

6. (spinning) One of the combs of closely ranged steel pins which divide the ribbons of flax fiber or wool into fewer parallel filaments.

• branchia

• French: branchie, ouïe
• German: Kieme
• Italian: branchia
• Portuguese: brânquia, guelra
• Russian: жа́бры
• Spanish: agalla, branquia

• German: Kiemendeckel (cover); Kiemenspalte (slit)
• Portuguese: opérculo (cover), fenda branquial exposta (slit)

• French: lamelle
• German: Lamelle
• Italian: lamella
• Portuguese: lâmina
• Russian: гимениальная пластинка
• Spanish: laminilla

gill (gills, present participle gilling; simple past and past participle gilled)

1. To remove the gills from a fish as part of gutting and cleaning it.
2. (transitive) To catch (a fish) in a gillnet.
   • 1898, Report of the Commissioner of Fisheries to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, page 255:

     Owing to the peculiar shape of the pompano and the relatively large mesh in the pompano gill nets, the fish are not caught by being actually gilled.

   • 1971, Michael Culley, G. A. Kerkut, The Pilchard: Biology and Exploitation ISBN 1483186784, page 70:

     In cases of very heavy catches the nets may be hauled and stored with the fish still gilled. The fish would then be shaken out on return to the port.

3. (intransitive) To be or become entangled in a gillnet.

From Middle English gille, from Old French gille, from Medieval Latin gillo, possibly from Gaulish gallā.

• IPA: /d͡ʒɪl/

gill (plural gills)

1. A drink measure for spirits and wine, approximately a quarter of a pint, but varying regionally.
2. (archaic, British) A measuring jug holding a quarter or half a pint.
3. (dated, US) A unit of measure equal to 4 US fluid ounces (half a cup, a quarter of a US pint), approximately 118 milliliters.

From Middle English gille, from Old Norse gil.

• IPA: /ɡɪl/

gill (plural gills)

1. (British) Rivulet.
2. (British) Ravine.

gill (plural gills)

1. a two-wheeled frame for transporting timber

• IPA: /d͡ʒɪl/

gill (plural gills)

1. a female ferret
2. (obsolete) a promiscuous woman; harlot, wanton
3. (obsolete) a prostitute

• (promiscuous woman) see Thesaurus:promiscuous woman
• (prostitute) see Thesaurus:prostitute

gill (gills, present participle gilling; simple past and past participle gilled)

1. (obsolete) To act as a prostitute.

• see Thesaurus:prostitute oneself

• As an English surname, converged from variants of Giles (sometimes through Dutch -), Julian, and William.
• As a northern English surname, from Middle English gil, from Old Norse gil.
• As an Irish - and Scottish Gaelic - surname, variant of McGill.
• Also as an Irish surname, variant of Gall.
• As a Jewish/Israeli surname, from Hebrew גיל.
• As a German - surname, variant of Gilger.
• As an Indian/Sikh/Punjabi - surname, from ਗਿੱਲ.

• (diminutive of Giles, Julian, Gillian) IPA: /ˈd͡ʒɪl/
• (diminutive of Wiliam, surname, Gillingham FC person) IPA: /ˈɡɪl/

1. Surname for someone who lived near a gill.
2. Surname, an alternate anglicization of Mac an Ghoill (McGill).
3. A male given name.
4. A female given name.
   • 1621 August 13 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben Jonson, “The Masque of the Gypsies”, in Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry. […], London: […] J[ohn] Okes, for John Benson […], published 1640, →OCLC ↗:

     each Jack with his Gill

5. A male given name.
6. A locale in US:
   1. An ucomm in Weld County, Colorado.
   2. A town in Franklin County, Massachusetts.
   3. An ucomm in Harrison County, Texas.
   4. An ucomm in Lincoln County, West Virginia.
   5. A ghost town in Harding County, South Dakota.
7. Surname from ਗਿੱਲ.

gill (plural gills)

1. (soccer) Someone connected with Gillingham Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.