piller
Pillow, said the mountain way.
Also called pillow.
Updated September 24, 2026
piller pronunciation
/PIL-ler/
Meaning
Same soft thing you put your head on. Appalachian and rural Southern speech turns the ow ending into er, so pillow comes out piller. Same family as winder for window and yeller for yellow. Not a different object. Just the way the word sits in the mouth around here.
How folks use it
- “Grab your piller. We're spending the night at Mamaw's.”
- “That old dog won't sleep without his piller.”
Origin and etymology
From the regular English word pillow. Mountain and Southern speakers add or swap in an r-sound on open endings, a pattern Tipper's Blind Pig readers and Appalachian dialect notes list alongside warsh, winder, and tater. Spelling piller just writes what folks say.
Frequently asked questions
Is a piller different from a pillow?
No. Same cushion. Piller is the Southern and Appalachian pronunciation.