fill

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a quantity sufficient to satisfy
  2. noun any material that fills a space or container
  3. verb make full, also in a metaphorical sense

Etymology

From Middle English fillen, fullen, from Old English fyllan (“to fill, fill up, replenish, satisfy; complete, fulfill”), from Proto-West Germanic *fullijan, from Proto-Germanic *fullijaną (“to make full, fill”), from *fullaz (“full”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”). Cognate with Scots fill (“to fill”), West Frisian folje (“to fill”), Low German füllen (“to fill”), Dutch vullen (“to fill”), German füllen (“to fill”), Danish fylde (“to fill”), Swedish fylla (“to fill”), Norwegian fylle (“to fill”), Icelandic fylla (“to fill”) and Latin plenus (“full”)

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