Meaning

noun pen made from a bird's feather

noun a stiff hollow protective spine on a porcupine or hedgehog

noun any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird

originFrom 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 from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0