Etymograph

English

bill

Bill comes from Old French bulle ‘seal’, and goes back to Medieval Latin bulla.

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500bulla1‘seal’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400bulle1‘seal’
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400bille1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bille1
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596bill1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bill
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame: “In the meantime I will draw a bill of…”.

Lineage

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500bullaWiktionary, English bill‘seal’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400bulleWiktionary, English bill‘seal’
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400billeWiktionary, English bill
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500billeWiktionary, English bill
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596billWiktionary, English bill. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame: “In the meantime I will draw a bill of…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with bill, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *bew- ‘swelling’

  • pick ← piken ← *piccian ← *pikkōn ← *pikkōną
  • pocket ← poket ← *pokō ← *puhô
  • pose ← ġeposu ← pos ← *pos ← *pusą
  • purse ← purs ← purs ← pusa ← *pusō
  • buckle ← bokel ← boucle ← buccula ← bucca
  • pique ← piquer ← picquer ← piquer ← *pikkōn
  • pout ← *poute ← *pūte
  • picot ← piquer ← picquer ← piquer ← *pikkōn
  • pock ← pok ← poc ← *pokk ← *pukkaz

through Medieval Latin bulla ‘seal, sealed document’

  • bowl ← bowle ← boule
  • bulletin ← bullette ← bollettino ← bolletta ← bolla
  • boil ← boillen ← boillir ← bulliō

37 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of bill

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bili-reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150bile‘beak (of a bird)’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bill
  4. Englishtodaybill

Perhaps from a special use of Old English bil, bill (‘hook; sword’) (see below).

Another origin of bill

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeyH-‘to strike’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bilją‘axe’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*billireconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150bil‘a hooked point’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bill
  6. Englishtodaybill

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Today it means

noun A written list or inventory. (Now obsolete except in specific senses or set phrases; bill of lading, bill of goods, etc.)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bill”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Medieval Latin bulla / bill