What is "fillip"

Fillip \Fil"lip\ (f[i^]l"l[i^]p), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filliped; p. pr. & vb. n. Filliping.] [For filp, flip. Cf. Flippant.]

1. To strike with the nail of the finger, first placed against the ball of the thumb, and forced from that position with a sudden spring; to snap with the finger. ``You fillip me o' the head.''
   --Shak.

2. To snap; to project quickly.

   The use of the elastic switch to fillip small missiles with.
   --Tylor.

Fillip \Fil"lip\, n.

1. A jerk of the finger forced suddenly from the thumb; a smart blow.

2. Something serving to rouse or excite.

   I take a glass of grog for a filip.
   --Dickens.

mid-15c., philippen "to flip something with the fingers, snap the fingers," possibly of imitative origin. As a noun, from 1520s, fyllippe.

n. 1 (context archaic English) A flick; the act of releasing the index finger from the hold of a thumb with a snap. 2 Something that excites or stimulates. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To strike or project with the nail of a finger snapped from the end of the thumb; flick. 2 (context transitive English) To tap or strike smartly. 3 (context transitive English) To make a fillip; drive by or as by a fillip; stimulate; excite; whet. 4 To snap; to project quickly.

n. anything that tends to arouse; "his approval was an added fillip" [syn: bonus]

Fillip is a Vancouver-based contemporary art publishing organization formed in 2004. It publishes a magazine as well as books of critical writing. The magazine with the same name was started in 2005. The publisher of the magazine is the Projectile.

In 2008 it opened an office on the border between Gastown and the Downtown Eastside from which it hosts month events including artist talks, publication launches, and screenings.

Fillip builds on Vancouver’s tradition of critical art publishing such as the pre-magazine era Vanguard (1972–78), Boo (1994–98), and Last Call (2001–02) by stimulating conversations about contemporary art through critical writing, projects, and events.