rhizoverbBeta
DictionarybilletAssigned lodging
noun / verb

billet

BIL-it/ˈbɪlɪt/

Lodging assigned to soldiers or officials.

The soldier receives a billet in a converted civilian building.

A lodging coordinator assigns a newly arrived soldier a temporary cot in a civilian building converted into sleeping quarters.
Etymology
bilAnglo-Frenchwritten statement
+letOld Frenchsmall

A small written document became a military ticket requiring its recipient to provide a soldier with board and lodging. The name then passed from the ticket to the lodging it assigned.

In context

LibriVox Audiobooks174:55
even those who slept in the hallways were happy for was this not their last Italian billet
In Italy with the 332nd Infantry by Joseph L. LETTAU read by KevinS | Full Audio Book

More examples

  • The unit was billeted in an empty school.
  • He returned to his billet after the patrol.
  • Officials arranged billets for the arriving troops.

Forms

billet · billets · billeted · billeting

Similar words

quarters
Quarters are assigned accommodations generally; a billet often means a particular lodging assigned to a soldier.
lodging
Lodging is any temporary accommodation; billet adds the sense of official assignment.