pill Look up pill at Dictionary.com
1484, from M.Du. or M.L.G. pille, from L. pilula "pill," lit. "little ball," dim. of pila "ball." Slang meaning "boring person" is recorded from 1871. The pill "contraceptive pill" is from 1957. Pill-box "box for holding pills" is first attested 1730; as a small round concrete machine gun nest, it came into use in WWI. As a type of hat, attested from 1958.