quilla

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from French quille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈki.ʎə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈki.ʎa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

quilla f (plural quilles)

1. keel

Further reading

• “quilla”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “quilla”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “quilla” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “quilla”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Galician

Alternative forms

• quilha (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Middle French quille, probably from Old Norse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiɟa/ [ˈki.ɟɐ]
• Rhymes: -iɟa
• Hyphenation: qui‧lla

Noun

quilla f (plural quillas)

1. (nautical) keel

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “quilla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “quilla”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “quilla”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
• “quilla”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French quille.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiʝa/ [ˈki.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiʝa/ [ˈki.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ˈkiʎa/ [ˈki.ʎa] (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /ˈkiʃa/ [ˈki.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /ˈkiʒa/ [ˈki.ʒa] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

 

• Rhymes: -iʝa

• Rhymes: -iʝa (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -iʎa (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iʃa (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -iʒa (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Syllabification: qui‧lla

Noun

quilla f (plural quillas)

1. (nautical) keel

Derived terms

• aquillado

Further reading

• “quilla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025