# hill

> English word · Noun · IPA /hɪl/ · frequency rank #1,603

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

## Easily confused with
- **his** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-his)
- **him** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-him)
- **hit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hit)
- **hip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hip)
- **HIV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hiv)
- **hin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hin)
- **hold** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hold)
- **holy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-holy)
- **hole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hole)
- **hits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hits)
- **hire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hire)
- **hint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hint)
- **hull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hull)
- **hips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hips)
- **hulk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hulk)
- **holt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-holt)
- **hind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hind)
- **hive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hive)
- **howl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-howl)
- **hiya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hill-vs-hiya)

## Common misspellings (4)
`hhill`, `hil`, `hlil`, `ihll`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hill