jilln.
/dʒɪl/, U.S. /dʒɪl/ 1. † a. An effeminate or feeble male. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 480 Ihesu, þou art a grameful gille.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxx. 414 Sir Sathanas idyls You for tha ilke, This Gill knaue.
b. (A generic name for) a woman or girl, esp. one considered ordinary or of low social status; a lass. Formerly also: †a flirtatious or sexually promiscuous woman (obsolete).Now somewhat rare except when used in combination with Jack; see Jack n.2 1b, Jack and Jill n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun]
daughterOE
maidenOE
young womanOE
mayc1175
burdc1225
maidc1275
wenchc1290
file1303
virginc1330
girla1375
damselc1380
young ladya1393
jilla1425
juvenclec1430
young person1438
domicellea1464
quean1488
trull1525
pulleta1533
Tib1533
kittyc1560
dell1567
gillian1573
nymph1584
winklota1586
frotion1587
yuffrouw1589
pigeon1592
tit1599
nannicock1600
muggle1608
gixy1611
infanta1611
dilla1627
tittiea1628
whimsy1631
ladykin1632
stammel1639
moggie1648
zitellaa1660
baggagea1668
miss1668
baby1684
burdie1718
demoiselle1720
queanie?1800
intombi1809
muchacha1811
jilt1816
titter1819
ragazza1827
gouge1828
craft1829
meisie1838
sheila1839
sixteenc1840
chica1843
femme1846
muffin1854
gel1857
quail1859
kitten1870
bud1880
fräulein1883
sub-debutante1887
sweet-and-twenty1887
flapper1888
jelly1889
queen1894
chick1899
pusher1902
bit of fluff1903
chicklet1905
twist and twirl1905
twist1906
head1913
sub-deb1916
tabby1916
mouse1917
tittie1918
chickie1919
wren1920
bim1922
nifty1923
quiff1923
wimp1923
bride1924
job1927
junior miss1927
hag1932
tab1932
sort1933
palone1934
brush1941
knitting1943
teenybopper1966
weeny-bopper1972
Valley Girl1982
a1425 Templum Domini in R. Cornelius Figurative Castle (Ph.D. diss., Bryn Mawr Coll.) (1930) 107 (MED) Coueytysse, þat gredy gille, I calle it crampe and gret warkynge.
1465 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 145 My Lord Persy and all this house..wysshe ye had be here stille, for the sey ye are a good gille.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. iii. 34 Haue at the, Gill!
1577 tr. Euripides in H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. I. ii. x. sig. O.viiiv/2 The wife that gadds not gigglot wise with euerie flirting gill.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 1159/2 She is a princesse, and the daughter of a noble king, and it euill becommeth thee to call hir a gill.
1608 T. Middleton Famelie of Love i. i. sig. A2v Now if I list will I loue no more Nor longer waite vpon a gill. Since euery place now yeeldes a wench If one will not another will.
1665 J. Wilson Projectors 228 Mrs. Got. Sirrah..look out and mind your business..Got. Good faith, I do. Mrs. Got. Yes, among your gills too much! What was that you said to our maid t' other night?
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 5th Bk. Wks. Pantagr. Prognost. 237 Those whom Venus is said to rule, as Punks, Jills, Flirts,..Misses, Cats, Riggs.
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. Jill, a Doxy.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Gill, the abbreviation of Gillian, figuratively used for woman, every jack has his gill, i. e. that every jack has his Gillian, or female mate.
1881 A. Trumble Slang Dict. Gill, a woman.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §382/2 A female, esp. a girl or young woman,..gill,..Jill.
2007 Pittsburgh Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 19 Sept. c1 We asked you—regular Jills and Joes—to tell us about the Pittsburgh-area singles scene.
2. † a. A name for a mare. Cf. jillet n. 1. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by gender or age > [noun] > female > mare
mareeOE
jilletc1430
jilla1500
yaud?a1513
gilliea1529
widge?1553
a1500 (a1400) Ipomedon (Chetham) (1889) l. 6422 (MED) ‘My hors my sellff kepe I will!’ He sayd: ‘Come hedyr to me, gille!’ Then loughe they all arighte.
1650 N. Ward Discolliminium 16 If my Mare hath the Scratches on her hinder Heeles, I must not cut off her four legs..if I doe, I shall wrong my poor Gyll.
b. A female ferret or (more rarely) polecat, weasel, or stoat. Frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Mustela (weasel) > female
jill1851
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Mustela (weasel) > mustela putorius (polecat) > female
jill1851
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Mustela (weasel) > mustela furo (ferret) > female
gin1688
jill1851
1851 Notes & Queries 7 June 461/2 The name by which the male ferret is known in the midland counties is the hob: the female is called the jill.
1889 Zoologist 13 325 A gill-ferret littered in large numbers, yet the young ones did not appear to survive.
1903 Nature Notes Mar. 51 I have had sent to me by a keeper near here a white jill stoat.
1946 W. Thomas Rabbit Shooting to Ferrets iii. 19 Let us assume that you have purchased a strong, steady hob as liner and a couple of carefully selected jills in whelp.
2000 J. H. Lewington Ferret Husb., Med. & Surg. v. 76/1 The hob ferret responds to short day-lengths and the jill to long day-lengths.
3. In form gill.† b. [Short for gill ale or gill beer at Compounds 1.] Ale or beer infused with ground ivy. Obsolete.
a. Ground ivy, Glechoma hederacea; = Phrases 1.Now chiefly in lists of alternative names for the plant.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > herb > [noun] > ground ivy
tunhoofc1000
hayhovec1325
gill-creep (also go, run)-by-(the)-ground1597
jill1725
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Gill ale Ale, &c. where Ground Ivy or Gill is infused.
1748 W. Shenstone School-mistress xi, in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems (ed. 2) I. 252 The lowly Gill, that never dares to climb.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. Table i. 252 Glechoma. Ground Ivy, or Gill.
1846 W. M. Buchanan Technol. Dict. Gill, the plant ground-ivy.
1889 Cent. Dict. Gill-beer, malt liquor medicated with the leaves of the gill or ground ivy.
1905 Proc. 21st Ann. Convent. Soc. Amer. Florists 114 No bare ground should be seen, but in its place mats of English ivy, ground gill (Nepeta glechoma),..and vincas.
1996 Chiltern Seeds Catal. 114 Ground Ivy... Alehoof, Cat's-foot, Gill, Gill-ale, Gill-go-by-the-ground [etc.].
2008 H. Garrett Plants for Houston & Gulf Coast 105 Ivy, gill (Glechoma hederacea) Also called ground ivy, a most carefree but invasive ground cover.
ΚΠ
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gill, or Ground Ivy, a Medicinal Plant, which gives the Denomination to a sort of medicated Ale, or Drink, called Gill, or Gill Ale, made by infusing the dried Leaves of the Plant therein.
1740 L. Whyte Poems 128 Some drank Jill, and others Beer.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Gill, malt liquor medicated with ground-ivy.
1801 Sporting Mag. 18 41/1 Went to Dolley's, dined, and had half a pint of gill as usual.
Phrases
P1. gill-creep (also go, run)-by-(the)-ground and variants: ground ivy, Glechoma hederacea; = sense 3a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > herb > [noun] > ground ivy
tunhoofc1000
hayhovec1325
gill-creep (also go, run)-by-(the)-ground1597
jill1725
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 705 It is commonly called..ground Iuie, Alehoof, Gill creepe by ground.
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum v. xciii. 677 Wee in English [call it]..Gill creepe by the ground, Catsfoote, Haymaides, and Alehoofe.
1765 Public Ledger 6 Aug. 748/2 I intend in this paper to give some account of the fatal effects of horses feeding on the herb Gill-go-by-the-ground.., alias bedera terrestris.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) v. 92 There were Yellow-Dock, Lemon Balm, Hyssop, Gill-go-over-the-ground,..and other plants.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. Gill run by th' grund, ground ivy.
1883 W. H. Cope Gloss. Hampshire Words Gill-go-by-ground.
1935 W. C. Muenscher Weeds ii. 401 Nepeta hederacea... Ground ivy, Gill-over-the-ground, Creeping Charlie, Cats-foot, Field balm.
1964 Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) 13 May 13/1 Gill-over-the-ground is thriving and loaded with blossoms.
2004 M. Choukas-Bradley Illustr. Guide Eastern Woodland Wildflowers & Trees 202 Gill-over-the-ground has heart-shaped, kidney-shaped, or round leaves that have a spicy odor when crushed.
P2.
gill-run-by-the-street n. now rare common soapwort, Saponaria officinalis.Chiefly in lists of alternative names for the plant.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Caryophyllaceae (chickweeds and allies) > [noun] > soapwort
boritha1382
crowsoapa1400
saponera1400
foam-dockc1500
fuller's grass1526
saponary1526
scour-wort1548
soapwort1548
mock gillyflower1578
soapwort gentian1578
struthion1587
soap-weed1607
gill-run-by-the-street1640
candify1727
saponaria1865
bouncing-Bet1884
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum v. lxxix. 642 The countrey people in Kent and Sussex call it [sc. Sopewort] Gill run by the street.
1880 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Index 19 Saponaria officinalis, L. Gentian (Soapwort), Gilliflower (Mock), Gill-run-by-the-street, Hedge Pink, Latherwort.
1916 Craftsman Apr. 31 Botanically this plant is called Saponaria officinalis, but commonly ‘Bouncing Bet’ or ‘Gill Run by the Street’.
2004 H. P. Loewer Jefferson's Garden 172 Other common names [for soapwort] are legion and include bruisewort, farewell to summer, hedge pink..and gill-run-by-the-street.
P3. † Jill-o'-the-wisp n. [after will-o'-the-wisp n.] Obsolete a woman considered elusive or likely to lead an admirer astray; cf. will-o'-the-wisp n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [noun] > phosphorescence > will-o'-the-wisp
fox-fire1483
foolish fire1563
ignis fatuus1563
fool's fire1583
Kit with the canstick or candlestick1584
going fire1596
will-o'-the-wisp1596
meteor1597
firedrake1607
wisp1618
ambulones1621
Dick-a-Tuesday1636
friar's lantern1645
gillian burnt-tail1654
Jill-burnt-tail1654
Jack-o'-lantern1658
fatuous fire1661
wildfire1663
wandering fire or light1667
Jack-a-Lent1680
fairy light1722
spunkie1727
Jill-o'-the-wisp1750
fen-fire1814
fatuus1820
marsh-light1823
feu follet1832
wisp-lighta1847
hob-lantern1847
ghost light1849
elf-fire1855
Peggy-with-her-lantern1855
fatuous light1857–8
marsh-fire1865
swamp fire1903
Min-Min1950
1750 Lady Bradshaigh in S. Richardson Corr. (1804) IV. 367 Looking, as I knew, for a certain gill-o'-th'-wisp, who, I have a notion, escaped being known by you.
1897 T. Hardy Well-beloved ii. i. 93 When under the eyes of his Jill-o'-the-Wisp he was more inclined to palpitate like a sheep at a fair.
P4.
Jill of all trades n. [after Jack of all trades n.] a woman who is able to do many different types of work; cf. Jack of all trades n.
ΚΠ
1869 Daily Evening Bull. (San Francisco) 17 July Intended occupation after graduation—Teaching, 9; suspected of contemplating matrimony, 4; professedly undecided, 2; shine at home, 3; ‘Gill of all trades’, 3.
1942 Studies 31 91 She is to do many things; she is to be a Jill of all trades.
2005 Scunthorpe Evening Tel. (Nexis) 27 Oct. 6 As well as being an active committee member, she is also the programme designer, properties mistress and generally a Jill of all trades.
Compounds
C1. attributive (in form gill), designating drinks made using Ground Ivy (cf. sense 3a), as gill ale, gill beer, gill tea. Now chiefly historical.
ΚΠ
1698 J. Floyer Treat. Asthma iv. 219 Bitters of the Deadnettle Class, Gill Beer, Gill Thea, sweetned with its own Syrup, or Powder of Motherwort mixed with Oxymel Scylliticum, Syrup of Horehound with Milk-water.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Gill-ale, Physic-ale.
1710 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella (2013) v. 31 I was forced to..dine for ten-pence upon gill-ale, bad broth, and three chops of mutton.
1727 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Oeconomique (Dublin ed.) Gill-Ale, Ale, &c. where Ground-ivy or Gill is infused.
1737 G. Jones Lett. to Miss Bevan 527 Am now to confine my self to Gill Tea and few other simple things.
1889 Cent. Dict. Gill-beer, malt liquor medicated with the leaves of the gill or ground ivy.
1983 Orange Coast Oct. 78/3 The best way to take ground ivy is a Gill Tea.
1996 P. Sambrook Country House Brewing in Eng. iii. 144 Centuries after the use of hops had become usual, the dried leaves of ground ivy were used as an infusion added to flavour ‘gill ale’.
C2. † Jill-burnt-tail n. Obsolete = will-o'-the-wisp n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [noun] > phosphorescence > will-o'-the-wisp
fox-fire1483
foolish fire1563
ignis fatuus1563
fool's fire1583
Kit with the canstick or candlestick1584
going fire1596
will-o'-the-wisp1596
meteor1597
firedrake1607
wisp1618
ambulones1621
Dick-a-Tuesday1636
friar's lantern1645
gillian burnt-tail1654
Jill-burnt-tail1654
Jack-o'-lantern1658
fatuous fire1661
wildfire1663
wandering fire or light1667
Jack-a-Lent1680
fairy light1722
spunkie1727
Jill-o'-the-wisp1750
fen-fire1814
fatuus1820
marsh-light1823
feu follet1832
wisp-lighta1847
hob-lantern1847
ghost light1849
elf-fire1855
Peggy-with-her-lantern1855
fatuous light1857–8
marsh-fire1865
swamp fire1903
Min-Min1950
1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot iii. v. 97 Will with the Wispe, or Gyl burnt tayle.
1846 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I. 400/1 Gill-burnt-tail, an ancient jocular name for the ignis fatuus.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
jillv.
/dʒɪl/, U.S. /dʒɪl/ intransitive. Of a boat: to move about, to move around; to idle around.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > move about or around
jill1955
1955 Times 18 July 9/6 In the early morning light Falmouth bay looked as lovely as ever, with its rounded green hills and little fishing boats jilling about under sail off the Manacles.
1956 W. Golding Pincher Martin i. 18 Survivors, a raft, the whaler, the dinghy, wreckage may be jilling about only a swell or two away hidden in the mist and waiting for rescue with at least bully and perhaps a tot.
1964 F. Chichester Lonely Sea & Sky xxix. 303 After breakfast I took over for an hour or two until we had cleared the point, when I gratefully lowered all sail and Gipsy Moth jilled along.
1972 Guardian 23 Sept. 5/4 Bosun dinghies jilling around the windless Medway... Picture by Peter Johns.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1390
v.1955