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gill

/ɡɪl/noun, verb

gill is spelled G-I-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, gill means “A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gill is gills.

How many letters and syllables are in gill?

Letters4: G-I-L-L
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is gill?

Gill appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce gill?

  • /ɡɪl/

As a noun (“A drink measure for spirits and wine, a quarter of an…”): /d͡ʒɪl/.

Gill has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-gill.ogg, En-us-Jill.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with gill

Sounds like: ghyll (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: gell, jill.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of gill

  • gills plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • gilling participle, present
  • gilled participle, past
  • ghyll

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does gill mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.

  2. 2

    A gill slit or gill cover.

    Gill nets are designed to catch a fish by the gills.

  3. 3

    One of the radial folds on the underside of the cap of a mushroom, the surface of which bears the spore-producing organs.

  4. 4

    The fleshy flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl; a wattle.

  5. 5

    The flesh under or about the chin; a wattle.

  6. 6

    One of the combs of closely ranged steel pins which divide the ribbons of flax fiber or wool into fewer parallel filaments.

  7. 7

    A drink measure for spirits and wine, a quarter of an imperial pint or near to that amount, but varying regionally.

  8. 8

    USdatedA unit of measure equal to 4 US fluid ounces (half a cup, a quarter of a US pint), approximately 118 milliliters.

  9. 9

    UKarchaicA measuring jug holding a quarter or half a pint.

  10. 10

    UKA rivulet, small stream.

  11. 11

    UKA ravine.

  12. 12

    A two-wheeled frame for transporting timber.

  13. 13

    Alternative form of jill (“a female ferret”).

  14. 14

    obsoleteA promiscuous woman; harlot, wanton.

  15. 15

    obsoleteA prostitute.

  16. 16

    obsoletegill-over-the-ground: ground ivy.

  17. 17

    obsoletegill-ale: an ale made with ground ivy among its ingredients.

verb

  1. 1

    To remove the gills from a fish as part of gutting and cleaning it.

  2. 2

    To catch (a fish) in a gillnet.

    In cases of very heavy catches the nets may be hauled and stored with the fish still gilled. The fish would then be shaken out on return to the port.

  3. 3

    To be or become entangled in a gillnet.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo act as a prostitute.

noun

as Gill
  1. 1

    Someone connected with Gillingham Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Gill in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbranchie, ouïe (breathing organ of fish), lamelle (mushroom organ)
GermanKieme (breathing organ of fish), Lamelle (mushroom organ), Kiemendeckel, Kiemenspalte (gill cover; gill slit)
Portuguesebrânquia, guelra (breathing organ of fish), lâmina (mushroom organ), opérculo, fenda branquial exposta (gill cover; gill slit)
Spanishagalla, branquia (breathing organ of fish), laminilla (mushroom organ)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does gill come from?

From Middle English gille, gylle (“gill”), of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish gælle, Swedish gäl, Norwegian gjelle, and further to Old Norse gjǫlnar (“lips”), which also may have had the meaning of "gills" (based on Old Danish fiskegæln (“gills”)). The Old Norse word has been suggested as deriving from Proto-Germanic *gelunō (“jaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel-, which would make it root-cognate to Ancient Greek χελύνη (khelúnē, “lip, jaw”), χεῖλος (kheîlos, “lip”). Displaced native Old English ċīe.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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