hill

/hɪl/

//hɪl// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"hill" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hill” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,603 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,603
frequency rank, English
4
letters
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An elevated landmass smaller than a mountain.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

hill vs his
50% similar
hill vs him
50% similar
hill vs hit
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for hill
PropertyValue
Headwordhill
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɪl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,603
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hill” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). hill lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for hill is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,603 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for hill, with forms such as "hhill", "hil", and "hlil". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "his", "him", "hit", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hil (“hill”), from Old English hyll (“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 (“hil… The correct English form is hill, spelled H-I-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    An elevated landmass smaller than a mountain.
  2. 2
    A sloping road.
  3. 3
    A heap of earth surrounding a plant.
  4. 4
    A single cluster or group of plants growing close together, and having the earth heaped up about them.
  5. 5
    The pitcher’s mound.
  6. 6
    The raised portion of the surface of a vinyl record.

Etymology

From Middle English hil (“hill”), from Old English hyll (“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.

This word in other languages

cerro(Español)colline(Français)Hügel(Deutsch)colina(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hhill,hil,hlil,ihll

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hill - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hhill1hil1hlil2ihll2
Edit distance from "hill"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hill"?
"hill" is spelled H-I-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is /hɪl/.
What does "hill" mean?
As a noun, "hill" means: An elevated landmass smaller than a mountain.
What words are commonly confused with "hill"?
"hill" is commonly confused with "his", "him", "hit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hill"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hill" is /hɪl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "hill"?
From Middle English hil (“hill”), from Old English hyll (“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, h... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “hill”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is H-I-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /hɪl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “his” - see the side-by-side comparison. hill vs his
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list