hill
pronunciation
How to pronounce hill in British English:
UK [hɪl]
How to pronounce hill in American English:
US [hɪl]
-
- Noun:
- a local and well-defined elevation of the land
- structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones
- (baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands
-
- Verb:
- form into a hill
Word Origin
- hill
- hill: [OE] The ultimate source of hill was Indo- European *kel-, *kol-, which denoted ‘height’ and also produced English column, culminate, and excellent. A derivative *kulnís produced Germanic *khulniz, which now has no surviving descendants apart from English hill, but related words for ‘hill’ or ‘mountain’ in other Indo- European language groups include French colline, Italian colle, and Spanish and Romanian colina (all from Latin collis ‘hill’), Lithuanian kálnas, and Latvian kalns.=> column, culminate, excellent
- hill (n.)
- Old English hyll "hill," from Proto-Germanic *hulni- (cognates: Middle Dutch hille, Low German hull "hill," Old Norse hallr "stone," Gothic hallus "rock," Old Norse holmr "islet in a bay," Old English holm "rising land, island"), from PIE root *kel- (4) "to rise, be elevated, be prominent; hill" (cognates: Sanskrit kutam "top, skull;" Latin collis "hill," columna "projecting object," culmen "top, summit," cellere "raise," celsus "high;" Greek kolonos "hill," kolophon "summit;" Lithuanian kalnas "mountain," kalnelis "hill," kelti "raise"). Formerly including mountains, now usually confined to heights under 2,000 feet. In Great Britain heights under 2,000 feet are generally called hills; 'mountain' being confined to the greater elevations of the Lake District, of North Wales, and of the Scottish Highlands; but, in India, ranges of 5,000 and even 10,000 feet are commonly called 'hills,' in contrast with the Himalaya Mountains, many peaks of which rise beyond 20,000 feet. [OED] The term mountain is very loosely used. It commonly means any unusual elevation. In New England and central New York, elevations of from one to two thousand feet are called hills, but on the plains of Texas, a hill of a few hundred feet is called a mountain. [Ralph S. Tarr, "Elementary Geology," Macmillan, 1903] Despite the differences in defining mountain systems, Penck (1896), Supan (1911) and Obst (1914) agreed that the distinction between hills, mountains, and mountain systems according to areal extent or height is not a suitable classification. ["Geographic Information Science and Mountain Geomorphology," 2004] Phrase over the hill "past one's prime" is first recorded 1950.
Antonym
Example
- 1. There 's a green gold rush on capitol hill .
- 2. Stevenson 's view ties in with hill 's memory .
- 3. This was the hill he asked me to decorate .
- 4. Hill and dale , doth boast thy blessing .
- 5. Remember the primrose hill set ?