Origin and history of bill
bill(n.1)
[written statement] late 14c., "formal document; formal plea or charge (in a court of law); personal letter," from Anglo-French bille, Anglo-Latin billa "a writing, a list, a seal," from Medieval Latin bulla "decree, seal, sealed document," in classical Latin "bubble, boss, stud, amulet for the neck" (hence "seal"); see bull (n.2).
bull(n.2)
"papal edict, highest authoritative document issued by or in the name of a pope," c. 1300, from Medieval Latin bulla "sealed document" (source of Old French bulle, Italian bulla), originally the word for the seal itself, from Latin bulla "round swelling, knob," said ultimately to be from Gaulish, from PIE *beu-, a root supposed to have formed a large group of words meaning "much, great, many," also words associated with swelling, bumps, and blisters (source also of Lithuanian bulė "buttocks," Middle Dutch puyl "bag," also possibly Latin bucca "cheek").
How slavery began