The noun is derived partly: * from Middle English fiole, phiole, phial (“small bowl or cup for liquids, etc.; flask”) [and other forms], from Middle French fiole, phiole [and other forms], and Old French fiole (modern French fiole), from Late Latin fiola, phiola, from Latin phiala (“broad, flat, shallow bowl or cup”), from Ancient Greek φιάλη (phiálē, “round and shallow bowl, pan, or saucer”), probably from Pre-Greek; and * directly from Latin phiala (see above). The verb is derived from the noun. Doublet of vial. Cognates * Catalan fiola * French fiole * Italian fiala * Old Occitan fiola (Occitan fiòla)
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Dated A bottle or other vessel for containing a liquid; originally any such vessel, especially one for holding a beverage; now (specifically), a small, narrow glass bottle with a cap used to hold liquid chemicals, medicines, etc.
VVo to you that are rich in Sion, and haue confidence in the mountaine of Samaria: […] That drinke vvine in phials, and are annoynted vvith the beſt oyntment: and they ſuffred nothing vpon the contrition of Ioſeph.1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Laurence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Amos 6:1 and 6, pages 835–836:
And when he had taken the booke, the foure Beaſts, and foure and twenty Elders fel down before the Lambe, hauing euery one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of Saints.The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, Revelation 5:8, column 1:
4 more examples
AA Is a glaſs phial filled vvith mercury to the ſuperficies DD, or thereabout.1682, Robert Boyle, “A Continuation of New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, Touching the Spring and Weight of the Air, and Their Effects. The Second Part. […]. Iconisme III. How Factitious Air may be Transmitted out of One Receiver into Another.”, in The Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle. […], volume IV, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], published 1744, →OCLC, page 103, column 2:
And I heard a great voyce out of the Temple, ſaying to the ſeven Angels, Goe your wayes, and powre out the vials of the wrath of God vpõ the earth.The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, Revelation 16:1, column 2:
You must open the middle drawer of my toilet-table and take out a little phial and a little glass you will find there,—quick! […] He held out the tiny glass, and I half filled it from the water bottle on the wash-stand. / “That will do:—now wet the lip of the phial.” / I did so: he measured twelve drops of a crimson liquid, and presented it to Mason. / “Drink, Richard: it will give you the heart you lack, for an hour or so.”1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter V, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 127:
Thou still, upon the broad vine-sheltered path, / Mayst wait the turning of the phials of wrath / For certain years, for certain months and days.1881, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “‘Retro Me, Sathana!’”, in Ballads and Sonnets, London: Ellis and White, […], →OCLC, page 252:
The noun is derived partly: * from Middle English fiole, phiole, phial (“small bowl or cup for liquids, etc.; flask”) [and other forms], from Middle French fiole, phiole [and other forms], and Old French fiole (modern French fiole), from Late Latin fiola, phiola, from Latin phiala (“broad, flat, shallow bowl or cup”), from Ancient Greek φιάλη (phiálē, “round and shallow bowl, pan, or saucer”), probably from Pre-Greek; and * directly from Latin phiala (see above). The verb is derived from the noun. Doublet of vial. Cognates * Catalan fiola * French fiole * Italian fiala * Old Occitan fiola (Occitan fiòla)
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To keep or put (something, especially a liquid) in, or as if in, a phial.