gill (unit)

;In imperial units:

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;In United States customary units:

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Prior to metrication in the United Kingdom, the standard single measure of spirits in a pub was {{convert|1/6|impgi|mL|1}} in England and Wales,Page 234, [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/medical-education/sites/medical-education/files/Chapter25.pdf chapter 25], Psychology in Medicine (1992) either {{convert|1/5|impgi|mL|1}} or {{convert|1/4|impgi|mL|1}} in Scotland, and {{convert|1/4|impgi|mL|1}} in Northern Ireland. After metrication, this was replaced by measures of either {{convert|25|or|35|mL|impgi|3}}, at the discretion of the proprietor.

Half of a gill is a jack, or one-eighth of a pint.{{cite book|last1=Klein|first1=Herbert Arthur|title=The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey|date=1974|publisher=Dover Publications, Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-486-25839-4|page=34|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CrmuSiCFyikC&pg=PA34|access-date=30 October 2016|language=en}}

But in northern England, a quarter pint could also be called a jack or a noggin, rather than a gill, and in some areas a half-pint could be called a gill, particularly for beer and milk.{{Cite book |title=Griffiths' Guide to the Iron Trade of Great Britain |publisher=Griffith |last=Griffiths |first=Samuel |year=1873 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_aDEKAAAAIAAJ/page/n409 292] |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_aDEKAAAAIAAJ}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/intuitivecalcul00ogogoog |title=Intuitive calculations; the readiest and most concise methods |last=O'Gorman |first=Daniel |year=1853 |location=Manchester |page=[https://archive.org/details/intuitivecalcul00ogogoog/page/n56 50]}}International Dictionary of Food and Cooking by Charles Gordon Sinclair, {{ISBN|1-57958-057-2}}, published by Taylor & Francis, 1998

In Scotland, there were additional sizes:{{cite web|title=The Scottish Licensing Laws|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hmgZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA115|access-date=6 September 2016|last1 = Purves|first1 = James|year = 1903}}

• big gill = {{convert|1+1/2|impgi|mL|1}}
• wee gill = {{convert|3/4|impgi|mL|1}}
• wee half gill = {{convert|3/8|impgi|mL|1}}
• nip = {{convert|1/4|impgi|mL|1}}

In the republic of Ireland, the standard spirit measure was historically {{frac|1|4}} gill. It still retains this value, though it is now legally specified in metric units as {{convert|1/4|impgi|mL|1|disp=out}}.

Until 2022, [https://www.gov.im/news/2022/sep/07/drink-measure-changes-to-come-into-effect-this-month/ Drink measure changes to come into effect this month] a spirit measure in the Isle of Man was defined as {{convert|1/5|impgi|mL|1}}.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gellings.im/prod_cat/P_15-gill-shot-glass-government-stamped_238.asp|title=1/5 Gill Shot Glass Government Stamped|website=Gellings}}

There are occasional references to a gill in popular culture, such as in:

• In L. Frank Baum's The Patchwork Girl of Oz, one of the ingredients required for a magic spell is a gill of water from a dark well. In chapter 19, the obscure unit is used for humor including a pun with the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill", which also involved a well.
• In George Orwell's Animal Farm, Moses the Raven is allotted a gill of beer a day after he returns, with the implication that this is part of his payment for supporting the farm leaders, the pigs.
• Dan Simmons' novel The Terror (2007) makes frequent references to gills of grog and rum.
• In Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, there are uses of the measure gill, with Israel Hands drinking a gill of brandy in the chapter "I Strike the Jolly Roger". In Stevenson's Kidnapped the protagonist, David Balfour, is "forced" "to drink about a gill" of brandy.
• In Melvyn Bragg's memoir Back in the Day, he recalls his grandfather in the pub with "a gill of bitter" in front of him.

• The cumulative song "The Barley Mow" refers to "...the pint pot, half-a-pint, gill, half-a-gill, quarter-gill...".{{cite web|url=http://www.chivalry.com/cantaria/lyrics/barleymow.html |title=Good Luck to the Barley Mow, lyrics and audio |website=Chivalry.com |access-date=2011-02-14}}
• The traditional English folk song "Byker Hill" begins with the words, "If I had another penny, I would have another gill."
• The Fall's song "Edinburgh Man" contains the line "Keep me away from the Festival and just give me a warm quarter-gill."

• A gill is also referenced in Archer season 2, episode 3 ("Blood Test") when Barry explains to Archer that a liter of blood is, "about 8 gills". (Eight gills would be {{convert|8|usgi|usoz|disp=out}}, or {{convert|8|usgi|L|disp=out}}.) A call back reference, also discussing units of blood, is further made in season 3, episode 3 ("Heart of Archness, Part 3"). In both instances, the word is pronounced with a hard ⟨g⟩.
• In 1990's "Bart the Genius," the second episode of The Simpsons, a child tricks Bart by offering, "I'll trade you 1,000 picoliters of my milk for four gills of yours." (A picoliter is a trillionth of a liter, so Bart is losing almost a pint of milk in this exchange.)

Because of its more widely used homograph, gill has sometimes been mispronounced with a hard g sound. In English, the sound of soft ⟨g⟩ is the affricate /dʒ/, as in general, giant, and gym.

• FX's animated cartoon Archer mispronounced gill in the episodes "Blood Test" (Season 2, Episode 3){{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/archer-blood-test-1798167276|title=Archer: "Blood Test"|first=Emily|last=VanDerWerff|website=The A.V. Club |date=11 February 2011 }} and "Heart of Archness: Part Three" (Season 3, Episode 3).{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/archer-heart-of-archness-part-three-1798169798|title=Archer: "Heart Of Archness, Part Three"|first=Emily|last=VanDerWerff|website=The A.V. Club |date=30 September 2011 }}

{{Notelist}}

{{Wiktionary|gill}}

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{{Imperial units}}

{{United States Customary Units}}

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Category:Units of volume

Category:Imperial units

Category:Customary units of measurement in the United States

Category:Alcohol measurement

Category:Cooking weights and measures