billet

UK: /ˈbɪlɪt/ US: /ˈbɪlɪt/ ,(bil′it)

Inflections of 'billet' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

billets

v 3rd person singular

billeting

v pres p

billeted

v past

billeted

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

bil•let¹ /ˈbɪlɪt/   n. 

[countable]
1. lodging for a soldier, etc., as in a private home:
   His billet was a drafty old home in a valley of the Loire.
2. Military an official order directing the addressee to provide such lodging.

v. 

3. Military to direct (a soldier) to a place to live and stay:
   [~ + object] The general billeted his men in the finest old castles.
4. to provide a place to stay for;
   quarter:
   [~ + object] Many citizens were happy to billet the soldiers in their homes.
5. to be quartered;
   stay:
   [no object] They billeted in some fancy older homes.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

bil•let¹  (bil′it), n., v., -let•ed, -let•ing. 
n. 

1. lodging for a soldier, student, etc., as in a private home or nonmilitary public building.
2. Military an official order, written or verbal, directing the person to whom it is addressed to provide such lodging.
3. a place assigned, as a bunk, berth, or the like, to a member of a ship's crew.
4. job;
   position;
   appointment.
5. [Archaic.] a written note, short letter, or the like.

v.t. 

6. Military to direct (a soldier) by ticket, note, or verbal order, where to lodge.
7. to provide lodging for;
   quarter:
   We arranged with the townspeople to billet the students.

v.i. 

8. to obtain lodging;
   stay:
   They billeted in youth hostels.

• Anglo-French billette, Old French bullette, equivalent. to bulle bill¹ + -ette -ette
• late Middle English bylet, billett official register 1375–1425

bil′let•er, n. 

bil•let²  (bil′it), n. 

1. Energy a small chunk of wood;
   a short section of a log, esp. one cut for fuel.
2. Metallurgy a comparatively narrow, generally square, bar of steel, esp. one rolled or forged from an ingot;
   a narrow bloom.
3. Architecture an iron or steel slab upon concrete, serving as a footing to a column.
4. Architecture any of a series of closely spaced cylindrical objects, often in several rows, used as ornaments in a hollow molding or cornice.
5. a strap that passes through a buckle, as to connect the ends of a girth.
6. a pocket or loop for securing the end of a strap that has been buckled.
7. Furniture thumbpiece.
8. Heraldry a small, rectangular figure with the longer sides generally vertical, said to represent a block of wood.

• Gaulish *bilia tree trunk; compare Old Irish bile landmark tree) + -ette -ette
• Anglo-French, Middle French billette, equivalent. to bille log, tree trunk (
• late Middle English bylet, bel(l)et 1400–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

billet / ˈbɪlɪt/ noun

1. accommodation, esp for a soldier, in civilian lodgings
2. the official requisition for such lodgings
3. a space or berth allocated, esp for slinging a hammock, in a ship
4. a job

verb ( -lets, -leting, -leted)

1. (transitive) to assign a lodging to (a soldier)
2. to lodge or be lodged

Etymology: 15th Century: from Old French billette, from bulle a document; see bull³

billet / ˈbɪlɪt/ noun

1. a chunk of wood, esp for fuel
2. a metal bar of square or circular cross section
3. an ingot cast into the shape of a prism

Etymology: 15th Century: from Old French billette a little log, from bille log, probably of Celtic origin