Houghton

H4O1U1G2H4T1O1N1
/ˈhoʊtən/

proper noun

A village in Houghton and Wyton parish, Cambridgeshire, England (OS grid ref TL281724).

CommonScrabble 15

Meanings

proper nounHoughton (countable and uncountable, plural Houghtons)

plural Houghtons

  1. A common placename:
    1. countableuncountableA village in Houghton and Wyton parish, Cambridgeshire, England (OS grid ref TL281724).
    2. countableuncountableA village in Stanwix Rural parish, Cumbria, England (OS grid ref NY407593).
    3. countableuncountableA hamlet in Sancton parish, East Riding of Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE886392).
    4. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Test Valley district, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU341143).
    5. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in King's Lynn and West Norfolk district, Norfolk, England (OS grid ref TF789288).
    6. countableuncountableA hamlet in Heddon-on-the-Wall parish, southern Northumberland, England (OS grid ref NZ1266).
    7. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Arun district, West Sussex, England (OS grid ref TQ017411).
    8. countableuncountableA village in Burton community, Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SM9807).
    9. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, South Africa.
    10. countableuncountableA town near Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
    11. countableuncountableA minor city in Lee County, Iowa.
    12. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Houghton County, Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula.
    13. countableuncountableA township in Keweenaw County, Michigan.
    14. countableuncountableA hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Caneadea, Allegany County, New York.
    15. countableuncountableA neighbourhood of the city of Kirkland, Washington.
  2. countableuncountableA habitational surname from Old English.

Origin

  1. Old Englishhōh“ridge, spur”
  2. EnglishHoughton

From Old English hōh (“ridge, spur”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Houghton. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Houghton

MLA

“Houghton.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Houghton. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Houghton,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Houghton.

Source: Houghton on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.