Billets

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Temporary accommodation provided for military personnel or visitors ; a short section of wood typically used for fuel or woodworking ; a ticket that serves as an entry pass to a show or event
2. A place where soldiers or guests are assigned to stay temporarily ; a small rounded piece of timber often cut for burning or crafting ; a voucher or pass granting admission to a performance
3. Housing arranged for troops or guests during a stay ; a compact wooden piece, such as one prepared for kindling ; a paper or card that allows entrance to an entertainment

Etymology: Soldiers and guests have been sent to "billets" for centuries, yet the word's oldest sense has nothing to do with lodging. It began as a piece of paper. Medieval Latin "bulla" meant a sealed document, and its diminutive gave Anglo-Norman "billette", a short note or schedule, which passed into Middle English as "bylet" with that meaning of a written order. Once a note told someone where to go, the word came to mean the place itself: the lodging a soldier was assigned. A separate word, with a different root, produced the wood sense. Old French "bille" meant a log or tree trunk, probably from a Vulgar Latin form of Gaulish origin, and its diminutive gave the small rounded pieces of timber used for burning or carving. The two words merged in English spelling, so a single plural now covers a paper order, a billeted soldier, a chunk of firewood and a theatre pass. The pass sense is a later extension of the idea of a written authorisation.

Synonyms: lodgings, accommodations, quarters, bunks, rooms