gillie
Americannoun
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Scot.
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a hunting or fishing guide.
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a male attendant or personal servant to a Highland chieftain.
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noun
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an attendant or guide for hunting or fishing
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(formerly) a Highland chieftain's male attendant or personal servant
Etymology
Origin of gillie
First recorded in 1590–1600, gillie is from the Scots Gaelic word gille lad, servant
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He's what's known as a "gillie" and manages fishing along a stretch of the Wye – a river once famous for its Atlantic salmon fishing.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026
First she lost her adored husband, Albert, and never got over it, and then John Brown, her beloved Scots gillie, died on her.
From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2017
How times have changed last week appeared when English papers suppressed the fact that a Scotch gillie had been caught under the eye by birdshot fired by a guest of J. P. Morgan.
From Time Magazine Archive
A pelican, taken from its cage to pose for a news-camera, wandered over to the fish exhibition and was diving for one of the lion-headed goldfish when interrupted by a goldfish gillie.
From Time Magazine Archive
Even when we were in Scotland the gillie took you for some titled aristocrat, you were so lavish with your money.
From Lover or Friend by Carey, Rosa Nouchette
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
