We take a look at the etymology behind the dreaded word ‘bill’

Bill

The news that Apple is facing the world’s largest tax bill prompts an investigation into why we use the word ‘bill’ to refer to a statement of money owed. It turns out that the origins of ‘bill’ can be traced to the Latin word bulla, which means ‘a rounded lump or swelling’. In the days when official documents were sealed with lead, a bulla was the name for the round mass that formed the seal on a document, and it later came to refer to the document itself. Indeed, in the Roman Catholic Church the official documents issued by the Pope are still referred to as ‘papal bulls’. In later Latin, bulla became billa, and in English billa became bill. The word can still refer to various official documents, such as a proposed law that is brought before parliament, although it is now most commonly used for documents that request payment of money.

However, when we use the word ‘bill’ to talk about a bird’s beak, there is a quite different origin at work. In this sense, the word comes from the Anglo-Saxon bile. This is probably related to an Old High German word bil, meaning ‘pickaxe’, on account of a perceived resemblance between the shape of a beak and that of a sharp implement.

Other Articles

Learning French: dining out

Whether you're grabbing a coffee to go, or planning a meal at a fancy restaurant, you'll find the French phrases you need when dining out in our latest Learning French blog. Bon appétit ! Read More

The Gentle Art of Persuasion: Soft Power in Language and Culture

In a period of global political and financial upheaval, as well as many armed conflicts, there has been much recent discussion about the place of ‘soft power’ in the world today. What is soft power? ‘Soft power’ denotes the ability to influence through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion or… Read More

Seven of the Most Beautiful Words in the Dictionary

It’s not every day that a world leader – in this case, US president Donald Trump – declares a somewhat functional word such as tariff the most beautiful word in the dictionary and, by implication, the English language. Admittedly, Trump later changed his mind by declaring God, religion and… Read More