Quill sb.¹

Forms: 4–7 quil, 5 quyl, qwil, qvylle, 6 quyil, 6– quill. [Of obscure etym.: cf. LG. quiele, G. kiel, dial. keil (MHG. kîl), quill (of a feather).]

  † 1.  A hollow stem or stalk, as that of a reed; a smooth piece of stem between two joints. Obs.

1412–20.  Lydg., Chron. Troy, I. vi. They take a quil … or a large can, And in the ende this stone they set.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 421/1. Qvylle, stalke, calamus.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, II. 84/2. Of a Tree … the Quill, is the Cane, or space between two such joints.

  b.  A piece of reed or other hollow stem on which yarn is wound; hence, a bobbin, spool or pirn of any material.

14[?].  Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 613/1. Spola, a Quyl, or a Spole.

1547.  Salesbury, Welsh Dict., Prikied edafedd, a quyll of yorne.

1610.  Guillim, Heraldry, IV. vii. (1611), 204. Hee beareth Argent three Weauer’s Shuttles Sable tipped and furnished with Quils of Yarne.

1635.  Roxb. Ball. (1890), VII. 142. If I should a Weaver have,… Either wind silk, or fill his quills, ’tis either I can fit.

1771.  Mrs. Delany, Lett., Ser. II. I. 382. Neither by force or art can I get the present quill off the spindle.

1831.  G. R. Porter, Silk Manuf., 221. The quantity of silk wound upon each of these quills is necessarily but small.

1886.  Elworthy, W. Som. Word-bk., Quill, to wind the yarn from the hank or skein on to a bobbin, called a quill, for the weaver’s shuttle.

  c.  A musical pipe, made of a hollow stem.

1567.  Turberv., Epit., etc. 56. Assist mee with your skilfull Quilles and listen when I call.

1633.  P. Fletcher, Purple Isl., XI. ii. Who now shall teach to change my oaten quill For trumpet ’larms.

1710.  Philips, Pastorals, iv. 28. Yet Colinet … My fingers guided on the tuneful Quill.

1749.  Collins, Superstit. Highlands, ii. There, must thou wake perforce thy Doric quill.

1878.  Browning, Poets Croisic, xlviii. Joining the Delphic quill and Getic trump.

  d.  A piece of cinnamon or cinchona bark curled up in the form of a tube. Also, the extent to which such bark curls up in drying.

1797.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), V. 12/2. The bark which is rolled up into short thick quills … was esteemed the best.

1811.  A. T. Thomson, Lond. Disp. (1818), 116. The secondary [characteristics] … are exterior coat, fracture, weight, thickness, and quill.

1852.  Morfit, Tanning & Currying (1853), 86. It is known to commerce as cassia, and comes in single quills.

1880.  C. R. Markham, Peruv. Bark, 71. The bark which comes from Loxa is in the minutest quills.

  † 2.  A small pipe or tube; esp. a small water-pipe. Obs.

c. 1433.  in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), II. 429. That thei mowe take oonly to their vse a qwil out of the pipe of the conduyt.

1579–80.  North, Plutarch (1676), 297. He [Cato] cut off the pipes and quils private men had made to convey Water into their Houses and Gardens.

1660.  Boyle, New Exp. Phys.-Mech., vi. 57. We took a slender Quill of Glass which happen’d to be at hand.

1712.  J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 197. The Bore of the Quill ought to be four Times less than the Bore … of the Conduit-Pipe.

  † b.  A tap or faucet. Obs.

1611.  Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit., IX. xv. (1623), 811. With what quill these wines were vented from the setled Lees.

1611.  Cotgr., Guille, the quill, or faucet of a wine vessel.

1727.  Boyer, Dict. Royal, II. The Quill (or Tap) of a Barrel.

  c.  The hollow steel mandrel of a seal-engraver’s lathe, into which the engraving tools are fitted.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., 2081/2. The quill is of steel, about 2 inches long and ¹/₂ inch in diameter.

  3.  The tube or barrel of a feather, the part by which it is attached to the skin. Sometimes extended to include the shaft, or used loosely in the sense of ‘feather’ (esp. one of the strong wing- or tail-feathers) and poet. for ‘wing.’

1555.  Eden, Decades, 163. Suche thinges as they make of fethers and quilles impaled with golde.

1575.  Turberv., Faulconrie, 331. The seconde kinde of Teynte which fretteth the principals of a Hawke to the verse Quill.

1593.  Q. Elizabeth, Boeth., IV. met. i. 76. Spedy quilles haue I That fur aboue the Pole do reache.

a. 1682.  Sir T. Browne, Tracts, 83. A hard reed about the compass of a Goose or Swans quill.

1713.  C’tess Winchilsea, Misc. Poems, 216. No Quill, thence pull’d, was shap’d into a Pen.

1774.  Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), V. 102. One of the quills was two feet four inches long; and the barrel, or hollow part, was six inches and three quarters.

1834.  McMurtrie, Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., 114. The bony tail … has a range of large quills, which … assist in supporting the bird.

  b.  The feather of a large bird (usually a goose) formed into a pen by pointing and slitting the lower end of the barrel.

  Brother, Knight of the quill: see BROTHER, KNIGHT. To draw the quill: see DRAW.

1552.  [see GOOSE-QUILL].

1581.  Derricke, Image Irel. (1883), 19. Lorde guide my quiuryng quill.

1591.  Florio, 2nd Fruites, 97. A serpents tooth bites not so ill, As dooth a schollers angrie quill.

1663.  Boyle, Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos., I. iv. 87. The quill that a philosopher writes with, being dipt in ink [etc.].

1704.  Swift, T. Tub, i. (1709), 32. A quill worn to the pith in the service of the State.

1771.  Smollett, Humph. Cl., 10 June. Let. i. His house is open to all unfortunate brothers of the quill.

1871.  B. Taylor, Faust (1875), II. II. i. 84. The quill … Wherewith his compact with the devil he signed.

  c.  A plectrum formed of the quill of a feather, used for plucking the strings of a musical instrument; in instruments of the harpsichord type, a piece of crow-quill, fixed on a jack and set in motion by the keys.

1552.  Huloet, Quyll, with whiche a musician vseth to play to saue his fingers, or any lyke thinge, plectrum.

1647.  Ward, Simp. Cobler, 84. The world’s a well strung fidle, mans tongue the quill.

1697.  Dryden, Æneid, VI. 879. His flying fingers, and harmonious quill, Strike sev’n distinguish’d notes.

1776.  Burney, Hist. Mus. (1789), I. ix. 150. To produce a clear tone … by the common means of quills or hammers.

  d.  The float of a fishing-line, made of a quill.

a. 1639.  Sir H. Wootton, On a Bank, 8 (Percy Soc.), VI. 17. There stood my friend, with patient skill Attending of his trembling quill.

1650.  E. Powel, in Walton, Angler (1875), 13. This Fisherman … sits by a brook, watching a quill.

a. 1678.  Marvell, Upon Appleton House, 649. But now away my Hooks, my Quills, And Angles, idle Utensils.

  e.  A toothpick made of a quill.

1784.  Cowper, Task, II. 628. He picks clean teeth, and, busy as he seems With an old tavern quill, is hungry yet.

  f.  Mining. A blasting-fuse, consisting of a quill filled with powder (Cent. Dict., 1891).

  4.  One of the hollow sharp spines forming part of the covering of a porcupine.

1602.  Shaks., Ham., I. v. 20. Make … each particular haire to stand an end, Like Quilles vpon the fretfull Porpentine.

1675.  Grew, Disc. Tastes Plants, vi. § 9. As the Quills in the Skin of a Porcupine.

1774.  Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), IV. 108. All these quills … incline backwards, like the bristles of an hog.

1855.  Longf., Hiaw., IV. 41. Leggings, Richly wrought with quills and wampum.

  † 5.  One of the cylindrical plaits or folds of a ruff (Nares); ? a quilled ruff. Obs.

a. 1828.  The Gardener, xi. in Child, Ballads, IV. 213. The lily white to be your smock … And the jelly-flower to be your quill.

  6.  A quill-gnat (see 8 b).

1899.  Westm. Gaz., 2 June, 3/2. They prefer to kill their … fish with smaller patterns—a red quill, or a Wickham’s Fancy.

  7.  (In full quill-stroke.) A particular stroke in the game of billiards.

1896.  R. D. Walker, in W. Broadfoot, Billiards, 370. The so-called quill or feather stroke, which was tabooed years and years ago.

1901.  Q. Rev., April, 483. What was known as the feather stroke or the ‘quill’ Mardon considered extremely serviceable.

  8.  attrib. and Comb. a. General combs., as (sense 1 b) quill-boy, -winder; (sense 3 or 3 b) quill-barrel, -dealer, -dresser, -employment, -end, -gun, -man, -merchant, -nib, -pen, -shaped adj., -timber, -vendor; (sense 4) quill-darting, -like adjs.

1770.  Kuckhan, in Phil. Trans., LX. 314. An incision just big enough to introduce the end of a *quill-barrel.

1812.  Southey, in Q. Rev., VIII. 351. What quantity of quill-barrel ought to be allowed for a clerk’s daily consumption.

1727.  Boyer, Dict. Royal, II. *Quill-Boy, Epeulier.

1670.  S. Clarke, Four Eng. Plantations, 32.

a. 1735.  Arbuthnot & Pope, Mem. M. Scriblerus, xiv. The quill-darting Porcupine.

1885.  Census Instruct., *Quill Dresser, Dealer.

1764.  Antiq., in Ann. Reg., 171/2. The most ancient grant of nobility in France to a *quill employment was to the King’s secretaries.

1797.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVII. 692/2. The small *quill ends which touch the strings.

1839.  Ure, Dict. Arts, 454. Into this the quill end of the feather must be plunged.

1617.  J. Lane, Contn. Sqr.’s T. (1887), 37. What *quill-gon bownces dares shee not let flye?

1856.  Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xxx. 408. The cheeks and lips are completely masked by the heavy *quill-like bristles.

1709.  Steele, Tatler, No. 19, ¶ 2. Small *Quill-men and Transcribing Clerks.

1830.  Scott, Ayrshire Trag., I. i. Quintin the quillman, Quintin the comptroller.

1813.  Examiner, 7 Feb., 86/1. Bankrupts…. J. Jones,… *quill merchant.

1853.  Simmonds, Dict. Trade, 310. *Quill-nibs.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., 1848/2. Bramah probably first suggested quill-nibs.

1862.  Mrs. Carlyle, Lett., III. 109. A couple of good *quill-pens of your own making.

1852.  Morfit, Tanning & Currying (1853), 86. Cinnamon of Ceylon … is found in commerce in thin *quill-shaped pieces.

1650.  Fuller, Pisgah, III. v. 419. They conceive this third … Temple never had other then paper-wals, inke-mortar, and *quil-timber.

1833.  J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 324. The *quill-venders have found their occupation to fall off.

1885.  Census Instruct., *Quill Winder.

  b.  Special combs.; quill-back, an American fish of the genus Carpiodes; the spearfish (Cent. Dict., 1891); quill-bark, cinchona bark in the form of quills; quill-bit, a boring-tool for a brace, having a hollow barrel (Simmonds, Dict. Trade, 1853); quill-coverts, the feathers that cover the base of the quill-feathers; quill-feather, one of the stiff, comparatively large, feathers arranged in two rows along the edge of a bird’s wing; also, one of the similar feathers of the tail; quill-gnat, a species of gnat, or an imitation of it used in angling; quill-jack, a jack fitted with a quill (see 3 c); quill-stroke (see 7); quill-tail (coot) U.S., the spiny-tailed duck (Cent. Dict.); quill-tool, -tube (see quots.); quill-turn, -wheel, a wheel for winding spools; quill-wort, an aquatic plant of the genus Isoetes, esp. I. lacustris, Merlin’s grass, having quill-like leaves.

1785.  Gentl. Mag., LV. 61. The red-bark is in much less esteem abroad than the *quill-bark.

1880.  C. R. Markham, Peruv. Bark, 71–2. The root-shoots had scarcely grown to a sufficient size to yield anything but quill bark.

1766.  Pennant, Zool. (1768), I. 156. The *quil feathers are dusky, barred with red.

1854.  Owen, Skel. & Teeth, in Circ. Sc., Organ. Nat., I. 223. The ulna is often impressed by the insertions of the great quill-feathers of the wing.

1867.  F. Francis, Bk. Angling, 189. The *Quill gnat … makes its appearance late in April.

1891.  Field, 7 March, 342/2. In a disused fly-book … reposes a small collection of quill gnats.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., 1691/1. The substitution of *quill-jacks for the hammer.

1859.  Sala, Gas-light & D., ii. 23. Another is fluting columns with a thin brush called a *‘quill tool.’

1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Quill-tubes, those in use with port-fires for firing guns before the introduction of detonating and friction tubes.

1617.  Minsheu, Ductor, A *Quil-turne, that turnes the quilles, or spoyling Wheele.

1886.  Elworthy, W. Som. Word-bk., Quill-turn, the hand-wheel and spindle upon which the bobbin or quill is wound for the weaver’s use.

1825.  Knapp & Baldw., Newgate Cal., III. 379/1. The block of the *quill-wheel.

1787.  trans. Linnæus’ Fam. Plants, II. 832. *Quillwort.

1796.  Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), III. 300. Quillwort. At the bottom of lakes.

1864.  T. Moore, Brit. Ferns, 103. The European Quillwort, or Merlin’s Grass.

  Hence Quilldom, the province of literature. Quill-less a., not provided with quills.

1864.  Louisville Daily Jrnl., 2 June, 2/1. ‘The pen is mightier than the sword,’ but we guess that [Gen.] Butler would rather see all the quills in quilldom coming at him point foremost than one sword.

1888.  Burroughs, in Century Mag., XXXVI. 611/1. [A porcupine’s] quilless and vulnerable under side.

1891.  Zangwill, Bachelors’ Club, 69. I was recognised in quilldom as one of those brilliant Lucifers.