billet-doux

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

BILLET-DOUX, bil'le-doo. A love billet. BILL'ET, noun A small stick of wood. BILL'ET, verb transitive [from billet, a ticket.] To direct a soldier by a ticket or note where to lodge; hence, to quarter, or place in lodgings, as soldiers in private houses.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

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