The word pile, as a shortened form of pilule, is rare in Continental French, but becomes the standard in English (with the earliest attestation from ca.1400). The OED (Third Edition, 2006) is uncertain about the immediate transmission of this form, pointing to some possible influence from Dutch pil and German pille. However, the shortened form seems to have been common in Anglo-Norman, providing a more direct potential basis for the English term. DMLBS, under pila 4 (2279b, ‘ball’), lists ‘pill, pellet’ as sense 2g. However, with only one citation listed by the DMLBS, this sense seems to be rare, making the Latin lexeme perhaps an unlikely source for English pill and Anglo-Norman pile.