"Bill" meaning in English

See Bill in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

IPA: /bɪl/, [bɪɫ] Audio: en-us-bill.ogg [US]
enPR: bîl Rhymes: -ɪl Etymology: Hypocorism of William. It is unclear how the initial W became a B; this could have been part of the medieval trend of swapping letters, similar to Dick for Rick. Etymology templates: {{m|en|William}} William, {{m|en|Dick}} Dick, {{m|en|Rick}} Rick Head templates: {{en-proper noun}} Bill
  1. A diminutive of the male given name William. Categories (topical): English diminutives of male given names, English given names, English male given names Translations (male given name): بِيل (bīl) [masculine] (Arabic), بِيل (bil) [masculine] (Arabic), Բիլ (Bil) (Armenian), Бил (Bil) [masculine] (Bulgarian), 比爾 (Chinese Mandarin), 比尔 (Bǐ'ěr) (Chinese Mandarin), Bill [masculine] (Dutch), Bill [masculine] (Faroese), ბილ (bil) (Georgian), Μπιλ (Bil) [masculine] (Greek), बिल (bil) (Hindi), Vili (Hungarian), ビル (Biru) (Japanese), 빌 (Bil) (Korean), Piri (Maori), بیل (bil) (Persian), Bill [masculine] (Portuguese), Билл (english: Bill) [masculine] (Russian), Guille (Spanish), Білл (english: Bill) [masculine] (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-Bill-en-name-bs7lH3Mo Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 45 14 40 Disambiguation of 'male given name': 89 8 4
  2. A surname.
    Sense id: en-Bill-en-name-EMUC1F3L Categories (other): English surnames, English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 45 14 40
  3. (British, slang) A nickname for the British constabulary. Often called "The Bill" or "Old Bill" Tags: British, slang Derived forms: Bill Williams River, Billary, Billy Related terms: Will
    Sense id: en-Bill-en-name-b989Cr5h Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 45 14 40

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for Bill meaning in English (6.6kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "William"
      },
      "expansion": "William",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Dick"
      },
      "expansion": "Dick",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Rick"
      },
      "expansion": "Rick",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Hypocorism of William. It is unclear how the initial W became a B; this could have been part of the medieval trend of swapping letters, similar to Dick for Rick.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Bill",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "name": "English diminutives of male given names",
          "parents": [
            "Diminutives of male given names",
            "Male given names",
            "Given names",
            "Diminutive nouns",
            "Names",
            "Nouns",
            "All topics",
            "Proper nouns",
            "Terms by semantic function",
            "Lemmas",
            "Fundamental"
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        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "name": "English given names",
          "parents": [
            "Given names",
            "Names",
            "All topics",
            "Proper nouns",
            "Terms by semantic function",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nouns",
            "Lemmas"
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          "source": "w"
        },
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          "kind": "topical",
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          "parents": [
            "Male given names",
            "Given names",
            "Names",
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            "Proper nouns",
            "Terms by semantic function",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nouns",
            "Lemmas"
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            "Entries with incorrect language header",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1974, John le Carré, Tinker. Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Simon&Schuster, published 2002, page 7",
          "text": "\"My other name's Bill,\" he said. \"I was christened Bill but Mr Thursgood calls me William.\" / \"Bill, eh. The unpaid Bill. Anyone ever call you that?\" / \"No, sir.\" / \"Good name, anyway.\" / \"Yes, sir.\" / \"Known a lot of Bills. They've all been good 'uns.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Nick Hornby, About A Boy, Victor Gollancz, published 1998, page 208",
          "text": "One of his neighbours opposite, a nice old guy with a stoop and a horrible little Yorkshire terrier, called him Bill - always had done and presumably always would, right up till the day he died. It actually irritated Will, who was not, he felt, by any stretch of the imagination, a Bill. Bill wouldn't smoke spliffs and listen to Nirvana. So why had he allowed this misapprehension to continue? Why hadn't he just said, four years ago, \"Actually my name is Will\"?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A diminutive of the male given name William."
      ],
      "id": "en-Bill-en-name-bs7lH3Mo",
      "links": [
        [
          "diminutive",
          "diminutive"
        ],
        [
          "given name",
          "given name"
        ],
        [
          "William",
          "William#English"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "bīl",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "بِيل"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "bil",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "بِيل"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "Bil",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "Բիլ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "Bil",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Бил"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "比爾"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "Bǐ'ěr",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "比尔"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Bill"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "fo",
          "lang": "Faroese",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Bill"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "ka",
          "lang": "Georgian",
          "roman": "bil",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "ბილ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "Bil",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Μπιλ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "hi",
          "lang": "Hindi",
          "roman": "bil",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "बिल"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "Vili"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "Biru",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "ビル"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "Bil",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "빌"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "Piri"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "roman": "bil",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "بیل"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Bill"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "english": "Bill",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Билл"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "word": "Guille"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "89 8 4",
          "code": "uk",
          "english": "Bill",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "sense": "male given name",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Білл"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English surnames",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "45 14 40",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A surname."
      ],
      "id": "en-Bill-en-name-EMUC1F3L",
      "links": [
        [
          "surname",
          "surname"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "45 14 40",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "Bill Williams River"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "Billary"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "Billy"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A nickname for the British constabulary. Often called \"The Bill\" or \"Old Bill\""
      ],
      "id": "en-Bill-en-name-b989Cr5h",
      "links": [
        [
          "constabulary",
          "constabulary#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, slang) A nickname for the British constabulary. Often called \"The Bill\" or \"Old Bill\""
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100",
          "word": "Will"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪl/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[bɪɫ]"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-bill.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f9/En-us-bill.ogg/En-us-bill.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/En-us-bill.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "bîl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Bill"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 1-syllable words",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English proper nouns",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪl",
    "Rhymes:English/ɪl/1 syllable"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "Bill Williams River"
    },
    {
      "word": "Billary"
    },
    {
      "word": "Billy"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "William"
      },
      "expansion": "William",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Dick"
      },
      "expansion": "Dick",
      "name": "m"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Rick"
      },
      "expansion": "Rick",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Hypocorism of William. It is unclear how the initial W became a B; this could have been part of the medieval trend of swapping letters, similar to Dick for Rick.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Bill",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Will"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English diminutives of male given names",
        "English given names",
        "English male given names",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1974, John le Carré, Tinker. Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Simon&Schuster, published 2002, page 7",
          "text": "\"My other name's Bill,\" he said. \"I was christened Bill but Mr Thursgood calls me William.\" / \"Bill, eh. The unpaid Bill. Anyone ever call you that?\" / \"No, sir.\" / \"Good name, anyway.\" / \"Yes, sir.\" / \"Known a lot of Bills. They've all been good 'uns.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Nick Hornby, About A Boy, Victor Gollancz, published 1998, page 208",
          "text": "One of his neighbours opposite, a nice old guy with a stoop and a horrible little Yorkshire terrier, called him Bill - always had done and presumably always would, right up till the day he died. It actually irritated Will, who was not, he felt, by any stretch of the imagination, a Bill. Bill wouldn't smoke spliffs and listen to Nirvana. So why had he allowed this misapprehension to continue? Why hadn't he just said, four years ago, \"Actually my name is Will\"?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A diminutive of the male given name William."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "diminutive",
          "diminutive"
        ],
        [
          "given name",
          "given name"
        ],
        [
          "William",
          "William#English"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English surnames"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A surname."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "surname",
          "surname"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A nickname for the British constabulary. Often called \"The Bill\" or \"Old Bill\""
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "constabulary",
          "constabulary#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, slang) A nickname for the British constabulary. Often called \"The Bill\" or \"Old Bill\""
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɪl/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[bɪɫ]"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-bill.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f9/En-us-bill.ogg/En-us-bill.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/En-us-bill.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "enpr": "bîl"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "bīl",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "بِيل"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "bil",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "بِيل"
    },
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "Bil",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "Բիլ"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "Bil",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Бил"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "比爾"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "Bǐ'ěr",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "比尔"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Bill"
    },
    {
      "code": "fo",
      "lang": "Faroese",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Bill"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "roman": "bil",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "ბილ"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "Bil",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Μπιλ"
    },
    {
      "code": "hi",
      "lang": "Hindi",
      "roman": "bil",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "बिल"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "Vili"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "Biru",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "ビル"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "Bil",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "빌"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "Piri"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "bil",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "بیل"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Bill"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "english": "Bill",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Билл"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "word": "Guille"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "english": "Bill",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "sense": "male given name",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Білл"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Bill"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-18 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (1d5a7d1 and 304864d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.