# gill

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡɪl/ · frequency rank #12,429

## Definitions
1. A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
2. A gill slit or gill cover.
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. The fleshy flap that hangs below the beak of a fowl; a wattle.
5. The flesh under or about the chin; a wattle.
6. One of the combs of closely ranged steel pins which divide the ribbons of flax fiber or wool into fewer parallel filaments.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **GL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gl)
- **gin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gin)
- **git** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-git)
- **Gio** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gio)
- **gul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gul)
- **GLO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-glo)
- **GOL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gol)
- **give** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-give)
- **girl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-girl)
- **gold** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gold)
- **goal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-goal)
- **golf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-golf)
- **gulf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gulf)
- **gina** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gina)
- **gist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gist)
- **gilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gilt)
- **gino** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gino)
- **giro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-giro)
- **gull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gull)
- **Gita** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gill-vs-gita)

## Common misspellings (3)
`ggill`, `glil`, `igll`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gill