The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
QUILL
Definition of QUILL
noun
The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather", probably from Low German and Middle Low German quiele, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce, stick”). Compare Middle High German kil (“large feather, quill”), which is derived from the Low German term.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
9%
of traced words share this origin (2,614)
How it is built
Same root, QUILL · 2 relatives in the game
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
QUILL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far. 31 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 146, 13 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 146, 13 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
QUILL starts with Q and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read ILLQU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. L appears more than once, including a double letter. It uses Q - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start QUILL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found QUILL?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 146 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER