fill

English Online Dictionary. What means fill‎? What does fill mean?

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: fĭl, IPA^(key): /fɪl/, [fɪɫ]
• Rhymes: -ɪl
• Homophone: Phil

Etymology 1

From Middle English fillen, fullen, from Old English fyllan (“to fill, fill up, replenish, satisfy; complete, fulfill”), from Proto-West Germanic *fullijan, from Proto-Germanic *fullijaną (“to make full, fill”), from *fullaz (“full”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”).

Cognate with Scots fill (“to fill”), West Frisian folje (“to fill”), Low German füllen (“to fill”), Dutch vullen (“to fill”), German füllen (“to fill”), Danish fylde (“to fill”), Swedish fylla (“to fill”), Norwegian fylle (“to fill”), Icelandic fylla (“to fill”) and Latin plenus (“full”)

Verb

fill (third-person singular simple present fills, present participle filling, simple past and past participle filled)

1. (transitive, ergative) To make full
   1. To add contents to (a container, cavity, or the like) so that it is full.
   2. To enter (something), making it full.
      • 1910 May 13, John C. Sherwin, opinion, Delashmutt et al. v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. et al., reprinted in volume 126, North Western Reporter, page 359, at 360:

        In the evening of the 14th of July, there was a rainfall of 3 or 3½ inches in that locality. The water filled the ditch so full that it overflowed the levees on both sides in many places […] .
   3. To occupy fully, to take up all of.
2. (intransitive) To become full.
   1. (of containers, cavities, or the like)

   2. To become pervaded with something.

3. (transitive) To satisfy or obey (an order, request, or requirement).

4. (transitive) To install someone, or be installed, in (a position or office), eliminating a vacancy.
   • 1891 January 23, Allen Morse, opinion, Lawrence v. Hanley, reprinted in volume 47, Northwestern Reporter, page 753, at 755:

     The board of supervisors called a specal^[sic] election to fill the office, and at such special election Henry C. Andrews was elected judge of probate to fill out the said term.

5. (transitive) To treat (a tooth) by adding a dental filling to it.
   • a. 1891, "Intimate Diagnosis of Diseased Teeth", in Items of Interest: A Monthly Magazine of Dental Art, Science and Literature, volume 13, number 11, November 1891, page 657 [4]:

     Be that as it may, had the disturbance continued after our having filled the molar, and presuming that nothing had been done to the bicuspid, we might have been still as far as ever from knowing where the trouble lay.

6. (transitive) To block, obstruct

7. (transitive) To supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
8. (transitive, nautical) To trim (a yard) so that the wind blows on the after side of the sails.
9. (transitive, slang, vulgar, of a male) To have sexual intercourse with (a female).

Synonyms

• (occupy fully, take up all of): pervade
• (have sexual intercourse with a female): dick, get up in, knob, swive; see also Thesaurus:copulate with

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “add contents to a container or cavity”): empty
• (antonym(s) of “to become full”): empty

Hyponyms

• backfill
• polyfill
• refill

Derived terms

Related terms

• full

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English fille, vülle, fülle, from Old English fyllu, from Proto-West Germanic *fullī, from Proto-Germanic *fullį̄ (“fullness”). Cognate with German Fülle.

Noun

fill (countable and uncountable, plural fills)

1. (after a possessive) A sufficient or more than sufficient amount.
2. An amount that fills a container.

3. The filling of a container or area.

4. Inexpensive material used to occupy empty spaces, especially in construction.
5. (archaeology) Soil and/or human-created debris discovered within a cavity or cut in the layers and exposed by excavation; fill soil.
6. An embankment, as in railroad construction, to fill a hollow or ravine; also, the place which is to be filled.
7. (music) A short passage, riff, or rhythmic sound that helps to keep the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody.

   bass fill

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• fill soil
• fill up

Translations

Etymology 3

See thill.

Noun

fill (plural fills)

1. One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.

Albanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fīlum (“thread”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiɫ̪/

Noun

fill m (definite fije, definite plural filli)

1. thread, yarn

Derived terms

Adverb

fill

1. at once, immediately, alone
2. instant

References

Further reading

• “fill”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin fīlius.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfiʎ]
• Rhymes: -iʎ

Noun

fill m (plural fills, feminine filla)

1. son

Derived terms

• fill de puta
• fillet

Related terms

• afillar
• filial
• filla

Further reading

• “fill” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “fill” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /fʲiːlʲ/
• (Galway) IPA^(key): /fʲiːl̠ʲ/
• (Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /fʲɪl̠ʲ/
• Homophone: phill

Etymology 1

From Old Irish fillid (“to bend, fold”), from Proto-Celtic *welnīti, from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to roll”) or *wel- (“to turn”). Compare German walzen (“to roll”), Latin volvō (“to turn”).

Alternative forms

• pill (Ulster)

Verb

fill (present analytic filleann, future analytic fillfidh, verbal noun filleadh, past participle fillte)

1. to return, turn back

   D'fhill muid ar an óstán. ― We turned back to the hotel.

2. to bend, fold

Conjugation

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

fill

1. genitive singular of feall

Mutation

References

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “fill”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “fill”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “fillid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “fillim”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 314

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

fill

1. Alternative form of fille

Etymology 2

Verb

fill

1. Alternative form of fillen

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish fillid (“turns back”), from Proto-Celtic *welneti, from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“turn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiːʎ/

Verb

fill (past dh'fhill, future fillidh, verbal noun filleadh, past participle fillte)

1. fold; plait; twill
2. imply
3. contain, include

Conjugation

Derived terms

• eadar-fhill (“intervolve”)

Mutation

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “fill”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[5], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “fillid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language