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trill

1
[tril]
|
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verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

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trill
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RELATED WORDS

quaver, vibrate, vibrato, roll, shake, sound, twirl

Origin of trill

1
1635–45; < Italian trillo quaver or warble in singing ≪ Germanic; compare Dutch trillen to vibrate, late Middle English trillen to shake or rock (something)

trill

2
[tril]Archaic.

verb (used without object)

to flow in a thin stream; trickle.

verb (used with object)

to cause to flow in a thin stream.

Origin of trill

2
1300–50; Middle English trillen to make (something) turn, to roll, flow (said of tears, water) < Old Danish trijlæ to roll (said, e.g., of tears and of a wheelbarrow); compare Norwegian trille, Swedish trilla. See trill1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for trilled

Historical Examples of trilled

  • If she had been a singing-bird she would have trilled to the piano; but she had not a note of music.

    Love and Lucy

    Maurice Henry Hewlett

  • I stood there dizzy, watching it die while Tweel trilled and whistled.

    A Martian Odyssey

    Stanley Grauman Weinbaum

  • It trilled with a silvery sweetness and was repeated over and over again.

    Blackbeard: Buccaneer

    Ralph D. Paine

  • "But we filled his bottle with luck," trilled the silvery lady upstairs.

    The King of Alsander

    James Elroy Flecker

  • She trilled like a thrush, or a linnet, or any bird that goes in largely for trilling.

British Dictionary definitions for trilled

trill

1

noun

music a melodic ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between a principal note and the note a whole tone or semitone above itUsual symbol: (written above a note) tr., tr
a shrill warbling sound, esp as made by some birds
phonetics
  1. the articulation of an (r) sound produced by holding the tip of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge, allowing the tongue to make a succession of taps against the ridge
  2. the production of a similar effect using the uvula against the back of the tongue

verb

to sound, sing, or play (a trill or with a trill)
(tr) to pronounce (an (r) sound) by the production of a trill

Word Origin for trill

C17: from Italian trillo, from trillare, apparently from Middle Dutch trillen to vibrate

trill

2

verb, noun

an archaic or poetic word for trickle

Word Origin for trill

C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; related to Norwegian trilla to roll; see trill 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for trilled

trill

n.

1640s, from Italian trillio, triglio "a quavering or warbling in singing," probably of imitative origin. The verb is 1660s, from Italian trillare "to quaver, trill." Related: Trilled; trilling.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper