billet

¹bil·let

noun \ˈbi-lət\

Definition of BILLET

1

archaic : a brief letter : note

2

a : an official order directing that a member of a military force be provided with board and lodging (as in a private home)

b : quarters assigned by or as if by a billet

3

: position, job <a lucrative billet>

Origin of BILLET

Middle English bylet, from Anglo-French billette, diminutive of bille bill

First Known Use: 15th century

Rhymes with BILLET

fillet, millet, rillet, skillet, willet

²billet

transitive verb

Definition of BILLET

1

: to assign lodging to (as soldiers) by or as if by a billet

2

: to serve with a billet <billet a householder>

Examples of BILLET

1. <every colonial household was expected to billet a British soldier>

First Known Use of BILLET

1594

Related to BILLET

Synonyms

accommodate, bestow, house, bivouac, board, bunk, camp, chamber, domicile, encamp, harbor, lodge, put up, quarter, roof, room, shelter, take in

Related Words

ensconce, home, roost, secure, shed, stable, tent; barrack; bed (down)

Near Antonyms

eject, evict

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

³billet

noun

Definition of BILLET

1

a : a chunky piece of wood (as for firewood)

b obsolete : cudgel

2

a : a bar of metal

b : a piece of semifinished iron or steel nearly square in section made by rolling an ingot or bloom

c : a section of nonferrous metal ingot hot-worked by forging, rolling, or extrusion

d : a nonferrous casting suitable for rolling or extrusion

Origin of BILLET

Middle English bylet, from Anglo-French billete, diminutive of bille log, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish bile landmark tree

First Known Use: 15th century