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gill3 - n., a deep rocky stream bed or ravine, a stream, rivulet.
British usage -- chiefly Scottish. Most dictionaries seem to put this one as the third entry, after the respiratory organ and liquid measure but before the sweetheart. From Middle English gille, from Old Norse gil, from whence also the modern Icelandic gil, with the same meaning.
Bonus English/Icelandic crossover, since I didn't get one up Monday:
berserk - adj., destructively or frenetically violent, unrestrained, deranged. n., (sometimes berserker) an ancient Scandinavian warrior frenzied in battle and believed invulnerable; someone who is violent, upset, or unrestrained.
From Old Norse berserkr, from ber- (either *ber-, base of bjǫrn, bear or berr-, bare) + serkr, sark, shirt, armor -- so either bearskin-shirt or bare-of-shirt. -r was the nominative ending, mistaken for the agent noun suffix -er by Sir Walter Scott when he imported the word in 1822.
Next week, back to the usual mix.
---L.
British usage -- chiefly Scottish. Most dictionaries seem to put this one as the third entry, after the respiratory organ and liquid measure but before the sweetheart. From Middle English gille, from Old Norse gil, from whence also the modern Icelandic gil, with the same meaning.
Bonus English/Icelandic crossover, since I didn't get one up Monday:
berserk - adj., destructively or frenetically violent, unrestrained, deranged. n., (sometimes berserker) an ancient Scandinavian warrior frenzied in battle and believed invulnerable; someone who is violent, upset, or unrestrained.
From Old Norse berserkr, from ber- (either *ber-, base of bjǫrn, bear or berr-, bare) + serkr, sark, shirt, armor -- so either bearskin-shirt or bare-of-shirt. -r was the nominative ending, mistaken for the agent noun suffix -er by Sir Walter Scott when he imported the word in 1822.
Next week, back to the usual mix.
---L.
