[Appears c. 1667, ad. It. trillare, in Florio 1611 also trigliare (not in 1598), ‘to quaver or warble in singing,’ cognate with triglio, trillo: see TRILL sb.2 (It. trillare is usually referred to a German source: cf. TRILL v.4)]
1. intr. To sing with vibratory effect; to sing a trill or shake, to ‘shake’; of a voice, etc.: To sound with tremulous vibration.
1666–7. Pepys, Diary, 7 Feb. My wife … proud that she shall come to trill, and … I think she will. Ibid. (1667), 7 Sept. I did tell him of my intention to learn to trill.
1841. D’Israeli, Amen. Lit. (1867), 402. This consonance trills in the simple carol of the African women.
1856. Capern, Poems (ed. 2), 54. And music trilled o’er moor and mead.
1884. St. James’ Gaz., 29 May, 6/2. At least four nightingales … trilling in whole-hearted chorus.
2. trans. To utter or sing (a note, tune, etc.) with tremulous vibration of sound.
a. 1701. Sedley, Poet. Pieces, Wks. 1722, II. 15. The Nightingale her mournful Story trills In yonder Hawthorn Shade.
1727–46. Thomson, Summer, 746. The sober suited songstress trills her lay.
1810. Scott, Lady of L., IV. xxiv. So blithely he trilled the lowland lay.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xv. The lark trilled out her happy song.
1860. Gosse, Rom. Nat. Hist., 28. Like that charming bird-voice, it was beautifully trilled or shaken.
1862. Miss Braddon, Lady Audley, ix. Sitting down to the piano to trill out a ballad.
b. To cause (an instrument or the voice) to vibrate with a tremulous sound.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, iii. The man who trilled the little bell of the Dutch clock as he went along.
1848. A. J. Ellis, Essentials Phonetics, 49. The tongue assumes precisely the same position as for s, but the tip is now trilled.
3. To pronounce (a consonant, esp. r) with a vibration of the tongue (or other vocal organ) and the corresponding auditory effect; = ROLL v.2 4 c.
1848. A. J. Ellis, Essentials Phonetics, 95. To show that the r is … trilled.
1873. J. A. H. Murray, Dial. S. Co. Scotl., 120. R is in Scotch … in all positions trilled sharply with the point of the tongue.
1887. Pronunc. Latin (Camb. Philol. Soc.), 5. Trilled ‘r’ as in French (or Scotch): more strongly trilled than in English ‘Opera,’ ‘herring.’
Hence Trilled ppl. a., Trilling vbl. sb. and ppl. a.; whence Trillingly adv., in a trilling manner, with trilling; also Triller, one who trills.
1692. Dryden, Cleomenes, II. ii., in Dram. Wks. (1717), VI. 297.
| Am I call’d upon the grave Debate, | |
| To judge of trilling Notes and tripping Feet? |
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, V. x. The sweet trilling of a murmuring stream.
1753. Scots Mag., XV. 40/2. Ye angels, catch the trilling sound.
1848. A. J. Ellis, Essentials Phonetics, 68. Veer-ing, car-ing [etc.] lose their trilled … r.
1854. Bushnan, in Circ. Sc. (c. 1865), I. 292/2. Its song is composed of several strains, each consisting of trilling and warbling notes variously modulated.
1873. T. L. K. Oliphant, Sources Stand. Eng., 323. A triller of Italian trills must be known as a vocalist.
1887. Trilled [see sense 3].
1887. Eng. Illustr. Mag., Sept., 779. As many finches, singing trillingly.
1888. Sweet, Eng. Sounds, 25. We have, lastly, the trilling of open consonants [especially English and German r].
1894. Outing (U.S.), XXIV. 230/2. I had failed to subsist on the manna of the Covenanters or a high-trilled Te Deum.
