billa

Pronunciation

• Homophones: billas, billât

Verb

billa

1. third-person singular past historic of biller

Etymology

Either from a pre-Roman substrate of Iberia or from Old French bille (“stick”); ultimately from Proto-Celtic *belyo- (“tree; trunk”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiʎa̝/

Noun

billa f (plural billas)

1. spigot

   Synonyms: espicho, espita

2. faucet
   • 1810, José Fernández y Neira, Proezas de Galicia, Pontevedra: Bibliófilos Gallegos, page 6:

     e correndo vanchese á bodega, abrironche as pipas, e sacaronche cheos de viño os caldeiros e olas, deixando abertas as billas, de maneira que todo o viño se foi pola bodega

     they ran into the wine cellar and opened the barrels; they took away cauldrons and pots filled with wine, leaving the faucets open so that all the wine slipped away by the cellar

3. stick

References

• “billa” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
• “billa” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “billa” in Santamarina, Antón (coord.): Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
• “billa” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Noun

billa f

1. definite singular of bille

Alternative forms

Noun

billa m

1. marmelos tree