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Berth vs Billet - What's the difference?

berth | billet | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between berth and billet

is that berth is to assign a berth (bunk or position) to while billet is to direct, by a ticket or note, where to lodge.

berth

English

Alternative forms

* (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A fixed bunk for sleeping in (caravans, trains, etc).
  • Room for maneuvering or safety. (Often used in the phrase a wide berth .)
  • A space for a ship to moor or a vehicle to park.
  • (nautical) A room in which a number of the officers or ship's company mess and reside.
  • A job or position, especially on a ship.
  • (sports) Position or seed in a tournament bracket.
  • (sports) position on the field of play
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012
    • , date=December 29 , author=Paul Doyle , title=Arsenal's Theo Walcott hits hat-trick in thrilling victory over Newcastle , work=The Guardian citation , page= , passage=Olivier Giroud then entered the fray and Walcott reverted to his more familiar berth on the right wing, quickly creating his side's fifth goal by crossing for Giroud to send a plunging header into the net from close range.}}

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to bring (a ship or vehicle) into its berth
  • to assign a berth (bunk or position) to

    • billet

    English

    (wikipedia billet)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) bylet, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A short informal letter.
  • *
    • However, when his cool reflections returned, he plainly perceived that his case was neither mended nor altered by Sophia's billet
  • A written order to quarter soldiers.

    • Etymology 2

    (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A place where a soldier is assigned to lodge.
  • * , chapter=19
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets .}}
  • * 1997 : Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault , page 9 (Totem Books, Icon Books; ISBN 1840460865)
    • 17 June 1940': Prime Minister Pétain requests armistice. Germans use the Foucaults’ holiday home as officers’ ' billet . Foucault steals firewood for school from collaborationist militia. Foucault does well at school, but messes up his summer exams in 1940.
  • An allocated space or berth in a boat or ship.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=10 , passage=The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.}}

    Verb

  • To lodge soldiers, usually by order.
  • * (Washington Irving) (1783-1859)
    • Billeted in so antiquated a mansion.
  • To lodge, or be quartered, in a private house.
  • (label) To direct, by a ticket or note, where to lodge.

    • Etymology 3

    (etyl) billette, from ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • metallurgy a semi-finished length of metal
  • a short piece of wood, especially one used as firewood
  • * Shakespeare
    • They shall beat out my brains with billets .
  • (heraldiccharge) A rectangle used as a charge on an escutcheon
  • (architecture) An ornament in Norman work, resembling a billet of wood either square or round.
  • (saddlery) A strap which enters a buckle.
  • A loop which receives the end of a buckled strap.
    • (Knight)