bille

See also: Bille and billé

Danish

Etymology

From English beetle; equivalent to bide (“to bite”) +‎ -le.

See also Icelandic bitil, bitul (“a bite, bit”), Faroese bitil (“small piece, bittock”).

Noun

bille c (singular definite billen, plural indefinite biller)

1. beetle

Inflection

Declension of bille

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bille	billen	biller	billerne
genitive	billes	billens	billers	billernes

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bij/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle French bille, from Old French bille (“small ball”), from Medieval Latin billia, from Frankish *bikkil (“ossicle, a die, talus”). Cognate with Dutch bikkel (“dibs, die”), West Frisian bikkel (“die”), German Bickel (“marble”).

Noun

bille f (plural billes)

1. marble (spherical ball)
2. (snooker, billiards) ball
3. ball bearing
4. (slang) dimwit

Derived terms

• bille en tête
• roulement à billes
• stylo à bille
• toucher sa bille

Descendants

• → Italian: biglia, bilia (once more common)
  • → Arabic: بِلْيَة (bilya)
  • → Turkish: bilye
• → Portuguese: bilha
• → Romanian: bilă
• → Vietnamese: bi

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “billiards”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle French bille, from Old French *bille (attested as Medieval Latin billia (“tree-trunk”)), from Vulgar Latin *billia, from Gaulish *bilia, from Proto-Celtic *belyom (“tree”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰolh₃yom (“leaf”). Cognate with Irish bile (“tree”), Latin folium (“leaf, foil”).

Noun

bille f (plural billes)

1. tree trunk (chopped down, ready for sawing)
2. railway sleeper
3. rolling pin

Related terms

• billon

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

bille

1. inflection of biller:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “bille”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Irish

Etymology

From Scots and English bill.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʲilʲə/
• Homophone: bpille

Noun

bille m (genitive singular bille, nominative plural billí)

1. bill
2. currency note

Declension

Declension of bille (fourth declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative bille billí vocative a bhille a bhillí genitive bille billí dative bille billí forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an bille na billí genitive an bhille na mbillí dative leis an mbille don bhille leis na billí

Derived terms

• bille airgid (“money-bill”)
• bille bainc (“bank-bill”)
• bille cainníochta (“bill of quantities”)
• bille costais (“bill of costs”)
• bille díolacháin (“bill of sale”)
• bille díotála (“bill of indictment”)
• bille iompair (“way-bill”)
• bille láimhe (“hand-bill”)
• bille luchtaithe (“bill of loading”)
• bille malairte (“bill of exchange”)
• bille parlaiminte (“parliamentary bill”)
• bille sibhialta (“civil bill”)
• bille slánaithe (“bill of indemnity”)
• bille státchiste (“treasury bill”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of bille

radical	lenition	eclipsis
bille	bhille	mbille

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “bille”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “bille”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “bille”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026

Middle High German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈbilːə/

Verb

bille

1. first-person singular present indicative of bëllen

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from English bill.

Noun

bille f (plural billes)

1. (Jersey) note

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

bille m (definite singular billen, indefinite plural biller, definite plural billene)

1. a beetle

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

bille f (definite singular billa, indefinite plural biller, definite plural billene)

1. a beetle

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbil.le/, [ˈbiɫ.ɫe]

Noun

bille

1. dative singular of bil

Old French

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Frankish *bikkil.

Noun

bille oblique singular, f (oblique plural billes, nominative singular bille, nominative plural billes)

1. stick; baton

Descendants

• Middle French: bille
  • French: bille
    • → Italian: biglia, bilia (once more common)
      • → Arabic: بِلْيَة (bilya)
      • → Turkish: bilye
    • → Portuguese: bilha
    • → Romanian: bilă
    • → Vietnamese: bi
• → Middle Breton: bilien sg
  • Breton: bili
• → Cornish: bili

Etymology 2

From Latin bulla. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) Doublet of bulle.

Noun

bille oblique singular, f (oblique plural billes, nominative singular bille, nominative plural billes)

2. written decree, announcement (etc.)

Derived terms

• billette

Descendants

• → Middle English: bille
  • English: bill

References

• “bille”, in Anglo-Norman Dictionary, 2nd edition, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: Aberystwyth University, 2001–2026.
• Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “bille”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.
• bille on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)