Quillet

//ˈkwɪlɪt// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A quibble, an evasive distinction.

    "There’s another : why might not that bee the Scull of a Lawyer ? where be his Quiddits now ? his Quillets ? his Caſes ? his Tenures, and his Tricks ? why doe’s he ſuffer this rude knaue now to knocke him about the Sconce with a dirty Shouell, and will not tell him of his Action of Battery ? hum."

  2. 2
    A small plot of land; historically: a strip of land that together with others like it formed a larger field. regional

    "The single and only [Royal Wilding apple] tree from which the apple was first propagated is very tall, fair, and stout ; I believe it stands about twenty feet high. It stands in a very little quillet (as we call it) of gardening, adjoining to the post-road that leads from Exeter to Oakhampton, in the parish of St. Thomas, but near the borders of another parish called Whitestone."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Possibly a shortening of earlier quillity, itself of uncertain origin, or from Latin quidlibet (“anything”).

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Possibly from Anglo-Norman/Old French cueillette (“uncultivated strip of land for the gathering of herbs, berries, snails, etc.”).

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: quillet