quill
The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbsThe lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
» Porcupine quills are essentially modified hairs.
Meaning
10 sensesThe lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
Kiel
ство́л пера́stvól perá
A pen made from a feather.
Schreibfeder, Federkiel, Feder
перо́peró, гуси́ное перо́gusínoje peró
перо́peró
pen made from a bird's feather
(broadly)Any pen.
He picked up his quill and wrote a poem.
Stift
A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the skin of a porcupine or hedgehog as a defense against predators.
Stachel
иго́лкаigólka, игла́iglá
го́лкаhólka
A thin piece of bark, especially of cinnamon or cinchona, curled up into a tube.
The pen of a squid.
The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
The tube of a musical instrument.
Something having the form of a quill, such as the fold or plain of a ruff, or (weaving) a spindle, or spool, upon which the thread for the woof is wound in a shuttle.
A quill drive, having a hollow shaft with another movable shaft inside it.
Examples
11 sentencesPorcupine quills are essentially modified hairs.
Kalman was afraid of the hedgehog's quills.
My quill ran out of ink this morning.
deMeiner Feder ist heute Morgen die Tinte ausgegangen.
My father will urge you to love your books and quills.
You can handle hedgehogs when their quills are down, even pet them.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 3
By meaning 4
Origin
From late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with theFrom late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather", probably from Low German and Middle Low German quiele, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce, stick”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: quillsSynonyms
7 synonyms- the hollow spine of a feather:calamusshaft
- pen made from a bird's feather:quill pen
- any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird:flight featherpinionquill feather