Word of the Day
quill
Quill
Middle English (origin uncertain)
English/kwɪl/German (related)/kiːl/
“For a thousand years, the primary writing instrument in the Western world was a bird's feather — and no one is entirely sure where the word for it came from.”
The etymology of 'quill' is genuinely uncertain. It appears in Middle English around the fifteenth century, possibly from Middle Low German quiele or Middle High German kil (a large feather, a quill). Some scholars suggest a connection to Latin caulis (stalk) or German Kiel (quill, keel of a ship — the quill's hard shaft resembles a keel). The word may be onomatopoeic, imitating the sound of stripping a feather. What is clear is that the tool was used long before the word arrived.
4 stops · from Northern Europe to Birmingham, England