twill
/twɪl/noun, verb
twill is spelled T-W-I-L-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, twill means “A pattern, characterised by diagonal ridges, created by the regular interlacing of threads of the warp and weft during weaving” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of twill is twills.
How many letters and syllables are in twill?
| Letters | 5: T-W-I-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,663rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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 twill?
Twill appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd 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 twill?
- /twɪl/
- [twɪɫ]
Twill 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-'twill.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-twill.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of twill
- ‛twill
- twills plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tweel
- twilling participle, present
- twilled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does twill mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A pattern, characterised by diagonal ridges, created by the regular interlacing of threads of the warp and weft during weaving.
- 2
A cloth or portion of cloth woven in such a pattern.
verb
- 1
To weave (cloth, etc.) so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Twill in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense weaving pattern:
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 twill come from?
From Middle English twyll, twylle, from Old English twilīċ (“two-threaded”), a partial calque of Latin bilix, bilic-, from bis (“twice”) + licium (“thread”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).