In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
FILLIP
bonus, fillip
(noun) anything that tends to arouse; “his approval was an added fillip”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
fillip (plural fillips)
(archaic) The action of holding the tip of a finger against the thumb and then releasing it with a snap; a flick.
A smart strike or tap made using this action, or (by extension) by other means.
(by extension) Something unimportant, a trifle; also, the brief time it takes to flick one's finger (see noun sense 1); a jiffy.
(by extension) Something that excites or stimulates.
Verb
fillip (third-person singular simple present fillips, present participle (archaic) fillipping or filliping, simple past and past participle (archaic) fillipped or filliped)
(transitive) To strike, project, or propel with a fillip (that is, a finger released quickly after being pressed against the thumb); to flick.
(transitive, by extension) To project quickly; to snap.
(transitive, by extension) To strike or tap smartly.
(transitive, figuratively) To drive as if by a fillip (noun sense 1); to excite, stimulate, whet.
(ambitransitive) To make a fillip (noun sense 1) (with the fingers).
Source: Wiktionary
Fil"lip, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filliped; p. pr. & vb. n. Filliping.] Etym: [For filp, flip. Cf. Flippant.]
1. To strike with the nail of the finger, first placed against the ball of the thumb, and forced from that position with a sudden spring; to snap with the finger. "You filip me o' the head." Shak.
2. To snap; to project quickly. The use of the elastic switch to fillip small missiles with. Tylor.
Fil"lip, n.
1. A jerk of the finger forced suddenly from the thumb; a smart blow.
2. Something serving to rouse or excite. I take a glass of grog for a filip. Dickens.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
21 April 2025
ENCYCLOPEDIA
(noun) a reference work (often in several volumes) containing articles on various topics (often arranged in alphabetical order) dealing with the entire range of human knowledge or with some particular specialty
Coffee Trivia
