Where does “gill” come from?

Gill comes from Middle English gile, from Old Norse gil, from Old French guile, from Frankish wigila, a word of uncertain ultimate origin and meaning.

gill (English): a breathing organ of fish and other aquatic...

Definitions

  1. a breathing organ of fish and other aquatic...

Ancestry of “gill”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishgilegill
2Anglo-Normangile—
3Old Frenchguiletrickery; deception
4Old Englishwīlwile, trick
5Proto-Germanicwīlącraft, deceit
6Proto-Indo-Europeanwéy-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanéǵh₂I

Words derived from “gill”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European éǵh₂ →Every word from Proto-Indo-European wéy- →Every word from Proto-Germanic wīlą →