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frill

(frĭl)

1. A ruffled, gathered, or pleated border or projection, such as a fabric edge used to trim clothing.

2. A projection as of hair, feathers, bone, or cartilage, about the neck of an animal.

3. A wrinkling of the edge of a photographic film.

4. Informal Something that is desirable but not a necessity; a luxury. See Synonyms at luxury.

v. frilled, frill·ing, frills

v.tr.

1. To make into a ruffle or frill.

2. To add a ruffle or frill to.

v.intr.

To become wrinkled along the edge.

[Origin unknown.]

frilli·ness n.

frilly adj.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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