Meanings
plural Chilterns
- abbreviationellipsisuncommonuncountableusuallyEllipsis of Chiltern Hills: a geographic area and chalk escarpment in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, England.
CHILTERN, a chain of chalky hills, running from eaſt to weſt through Buckinghamſhire.
1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 184 - abbreviationellipsishistoricaluncountableusuallyEllipsis of Chiltern Hundreds.
- historicaluncountableusuallyA former local government district in Buckinghamshire, England, abolished on 31 March 2020.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Unknown, but thought to derive from a Celtic toponym, presumably related to height. The other placenames derive from the English hills.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Chiltern. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chiltern
“Chiltern.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chiltern. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Chiltern,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chiltern.
Source: Chiltern on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.