hilltop

Etymology

It is formed from English hill + top.^[2][3][4] Both parts are native: the first goes back to Old English hyll and the second to top (“summit”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The top or summit of a hill: about 1400 in Etymonline, late Middle English (1375–1425) in Dictionary.com and the 15th century in Merriam-Webster.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word is often used as a modifier, as in a hilltop church.^[6][7] The Historical Thesaurus files it among the words for the summit of a hill or mountain.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – the top of a hill.^[2] The OED's first quotation is from Palsgrave's Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse (1530).^[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The top or summit of a hill: They ate their sandwiches on the hilltop.^[6][7][5][3]
2. (attributive) Standing on a hilltop: a hilltop fort.^[6][7]

Word family

• hilltopper

Related words

• hill
• top

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)