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brill

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brill¹

  • /bɹɪl/

Rhymes with -ɪl

Where it comes from

Possibly from Cornish brilli (“mackerel”), from brithelli, plural of brithel (“mackerel”), from brith (“spotted”), from Proto-Brythonic *briθ.

noun brills · brill

  1. A type of flatfish, Scophthalmus rhombus.

brill²

  • /bɹɪl/

Rhymes with -ɪl

adjective more brill · most brill

  1. UK, abbreviation, clipping, slang Clipping of brilliant; wonderful, amusing; cool. That song is totally brill, innit!

Brill³

Where it comes from

* As an English surname, from Brill in Buckinghamshire, said to be from Proto-Brythonic *breɣ (“hill”) + Old English hyll (“hill”).

* As a Dutch and north German surname, from Middle Low German brul (“low wetland”). Compare the variant Bruehl.

* Also as a German surname, from the noun Brille (“eyeglasses”).

* As a Jewish surname, from a Hebrew acronym of בן רבי (ben rabi, “son of rabbi”) followed by a Yiddish personal name, such as "Ben Rabbi Yehuda Levi".

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. A village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, previously in Aylesbury Vale district (OS grid ref SP6514).
  3. A hamlet in Constantine parish, south-west Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW7229).
  4. A neighbourhood of Elberfeld, Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
  5. An unincorporated community in the town of Oak Grove, Barron County, Wisconsin, United States.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: scophthalmus rhombus, pearl, beryl, braille, april, acf, edwards, zinsser, superb, wonderful, fantastic, excellent, great, brilliant, amazing, fab

Translations

Every language

noun Scophthalmus rhombus

Españolrémol, rombo
Françaisbarbue
DeutschGlattbutt
Русскийгла́дкий ромб gládkij romb, бриль brilʹ, гла́дкий калка́н gládkij kalkán

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MLA

"brill." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/brill. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

brill. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/brill

Chicago

"brill." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/brill.

BibTeX
@misc{brill_2026,
  title = {brill},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/brill},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}