hill

hill · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*kl̥Hnís“top, hill, rock”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hulliz“hill”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hulli“hill”
4. Old English · inherited fromhyll“hill”
5. Middle English · inherited fromhil“hill”
6. English todayhill

From Middle English hil (“hill”), from Old English hyll (“hill”), from Proto-West Germanic *hulli (“hill”), from Proto-Germanic *hulliz (“hill”), from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥Hnís (“top, hill, rock”) (compare also Proto-Germanic *halluz (“stone, rock”)). Cognate with Middle Dutch hille, hulle (“hill”), Low German hull (“hill”), Faroese hólur (“hill”), Icelandic and Old Norse hóll (“hill”), Norn hul (“hillock”), Norwegian hol (“low hillock”), Swedish kulle (“hill”), Catalan coll (“hill”), Italian colle (“hill”), Latin collis (“hill”), Lithuanian kalnas (“hill, mountain”), Albanian kallumë (“big pile, tall heap”), Russian холм (xolm, “hill”), Old English holm (“rising land, island”). More at holm.

Hill · proper noun²

1. Finnish · calque ofMäki“hill”
2. Old English · derived fromhild“battle”
3. English todayHill

* As an English surname, from the noun hill, shortened from Hilary, and from Old English hild (“battle”). * As a German surname, shortened from Hildebrand, related to the last sense above. * As a Finnish surname, calque of Finnish Mäki (“hill”).

Words from the same roots