Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “hills” come from?

Hill comes from Middle English hill, Old English hyll, Proto-Germanic hulliz, and Proto-Indo-European kelH-, ultimately from a root meaning to rise or swell.

hills (English): plural of hill; Third-person singular simple...

Definitions

  1. plural of hill; Third-person singular simple...

Ancestry of “hills”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishhillAn elevated location smaller than a mountain; A...
2Middle Englishhill—
3Old Englishhyllhill
4Albanianhullifurrow
5Proto-Germanichullizhill
6Proto-Indo-Europeankl̥Hníshill
7Proto-Indo-EuropeankelH-to rise, to be tall; hill
Every word from Proto-Indo-European kelH- →