overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

billet.

A short informal letter.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbɪlɪt/General-American, UK
  1. A short informal letter.

  2. A written order to quarter soldiers.

  3. A sealed ticket for a draw or lottery.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English bylet, from Anglo-Norman billette (“list, schedule”), from bille + -ette, from Latin bulla (“document”).

noun/ˈbɪlɪt/General-American, UK
  1. A place where a soldier is assigned to lodge.

  2. Temporary lodgings in a private residence, such as is organised for members of a visiting sports team.

  3. An allocated space or berth in a boat or ship.

  4. Berth; position.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

From Middle French billette (“schedule”), from bullette, diminutive form of bulle (“document”), from Medieval Latin bulla, hence cognate with etymology 1 above.

verb/ˈbɪlɪt/General-American, UK
  1. To lodge soldiers, or guests, usually by order.

    transitive
  2. To lodge, or be quartered, in a private house.

    intransitive
  3. To direct, by a ticket or note, where to lodge.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle French billette (“schedule”), from bullette, diminutive form of bulle (“document”), from Medieval Latin bulla, hence cognate with etymology 1 above.

noun/ˈbɪlɪt/General-American, UK
  1. A semi-finished length of metal.

  2. A short piece of wood, especially one used as firewood.

  3. A short cutting of sugar cane produced by a harvester or used for planting.

  4. A rectangle used as a charge on an escutcheon.

  5. An ornament in Norman work, resembling a billet of wood, either square or round.

  6. A strap that enters a buckle.

  7. A loop that receives the end of a buckled strap.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English billet, bylet, belet, billette, from Old French billette, from bille (“log, tree trunk”), from Vulgar Latin *bilia, probably of Gaulish origin (compare Old Irish bile (“tree”)).

noun/ˈbɪlɪt/General-American, UK
  1. Alternative form of billard (“coalfish”).

    alt-of · alternative
FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

billet has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

billet studiobillet workshello, billet

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.