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billet

 - 6 dictionary results

bil⋅let

1[bil-it] noun, verb, -let⋅ed, -let⋅ing.
–noun
1. lodging for a soldier, student, etc., as in a private home or nonmilitary public building.
2. Military. an official order, written or verbal, directing the person to whom it is addressed to provide such lodging.
3. a place assigned, as a bunk, berth, or the like, to a member of a ship's crew.
4. job; position; appointment.
5. Archaic. a written note, short letter, or the like.
–verb (used with object)
6. Military. to direct (a soldier) by ticket, note, or verbal order, where to lodge.
7. to provide lodging for; quarter: We arranged with the townspeople to billet the students.
–verb (used without object)
8. to obtain lodging; stay: They billeted in youth hostels.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME bylet, billett official register < AF billette, OF bullette, equiv. to bulle bill 1 + -ette -ette


bil⋅let⋅er, noun

bil⋅let

2[bil-it]
–noun
1. a small chunk of wood; a short section of a log, esp. one cut for fuel.
2. Metalworking. a comparatively narrow, generally square, bar of steel, esp. one rolled or forged from an ingot; a narrow bloom.
3. an iron or steel slab upon concrete, serving as a footing to a column.
4. Architecture. any of a series of closely spaced cylindrical objects, often in several rows, used as ornaments in a hollow molding or cornice.
5. a strap that passes through a buckle, as to connect the ends of a girth.
6. a pocket or loop for securing the end of a strap that has been buckled.
7. thumbpiece.
8. Heraldry. a small, rectangular figure with the longer sides generally vertical, said to represent a block of wood.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME bylet, bel(l)et < AF, MF billette, equiv. to bille log, tree trunk (< Gaulish *bilia tree trunk; cf. OIr bile landmark tree) + -ette -ette

thumb⋅piece

[thuhm-pees]
–noun
a lever over the hinge on the lid of a tankard, pressed by the thumb to raise the lid.
Also called billet.


Origin:
1750–60; thumb + piece
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To billet
bil·let 1   (bĭl'ĭt)   
n.  
    1. Lodging for troops.

    2. A written order directing that such lodging be provided.

  1. A position of employment; a job.

  2. Archaic A short letter; a note.

v.   bil·let·ed, bil·let·ing, bil·lets

v.   tr.
    1. To lodge (soldiers).

    2. To serve (a person) with a written order to provide lodging for soldiers.

  1. To assign lodging to.

v.   intr.
To be quartered; lodge.

[Middle English, official register, from Old French billette, from bullette, diminutive of bulle, document, from Medieval Latin bulla, document, seal; see bill1.]
bil·let 2   (bĭl'ĭt)   
n.  
  1. A short, thick piece of wood, especially one used as firewood.

  2. One of a series of regularly spaced, log-shaped segments used horizontally as ornamentation in the moldings of Norman architecture.

    1. A small, usually rectangular bar of iron or steel in an intermediate stage of manufacture.

    2. A small ingot of nonferrous metal.

    3. The part of a harness strap that passes through a buckle.

    4. A loop or pocket for securing the end of a buckled harness strap.

    1. The part of a harness strap that passes through a buckle.

    2. A loop or pocket for securing the end of a buckled harness strap.


[Middle English, from Old French billette, diminutive of bille, log, from Vulgar Latin *bilia, possibly of Celtic origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

billet 
1599, "to assign quarters to," earlier "official record or register" (M.E.), from Anglo-Fr. billette "list, schedule," dim. of bille (see bill (1)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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