Billed

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /bɪld/

Definitions

1. Charged an amount for goods or services provided ; promoted or announced as a performer or participant ; provided with a projecting edge or lip, as on a cap or bird's beak
2. Invoiced for payment after delivery or completion ; formally presented in announcements or programs ; having a shaped brim or bill on a hat or relating to the beak of a bird
3. Demanded payment for a supplied item or duty ; publicly named or scheduled to appear in an event ; furnished with a projecting part, like the front of a hat or a bird's bill

Etymology: The past tense "billed" comes from "bill," a word with several possible origins. One line of descent runs through Old French "bulle," a seal or sealed document, from Medieval Latin "bulla," which is also the source of "bull" in the sense of a papal decree. A bill, in other words, began as the thing that carried an official seal. The sense of a list of charges came later, as a written statement of what was owed. A second strand gives a far more physical picture. Old English "bile" meant the beak of a bird or the trunk of an elephant, and it may be linked to "bil," a hooked blade or curved sword. That pointed, hooked shape is the origin many dictionaries suggest, though the exact connection is unclear. To be billed, then, is to have a document of charges presented to you. The verb took on its commercial sense as written accounts became the standard way of demanding payment.

Synonyms: charged, invoiced, charged with, assessed, itemized

Antonyms: credited, refunded, discounted, waived, forgiven