Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
BILLET
I. noun
Etymology: Middle English bylet, from Anglo-French billette, diminutive of bille bill
Date: 15th century
a brief letter ; note ,
2. an official order directing that a member of a military force be provided with board and lodging (as in a private home), quarters assigned by or as if by a billet, position , job ,
II. transitive verb
Date: 1594
to assign lodging to (as soldiers) by or as if by a billet, to serve with a billet ,
III. noun
Etymology: Middle English bylet, from Anglo-French billete, diminutive of bille log, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish bile landmark tree
Date: 15th century
1. a chunky piece of wood (as for firewood), cudgel ,
2. a bar of metal, a piece of semifinished iron or steel nearly square in section made by rolling an ingot or bloom, a section of nonferrous metal ingot hot-worked by forging, rolling, or extrusion, a nonferrous casting suitable for rolling or extrusion