英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

highway (n.)[highway 词源字典]: Old English heahweg "main road from one town to another;" see high (adj.) in sense of "main" + way (n.). High street (Old English heahstræte) was the word before 17c. applied to highways and main roads, whether in the country or town, especially one of the Roman roads. In more recent usage, it generally is the proper name of the street of a town which is built upon a highway and was the principal street of the place.[highway etymology, highway origin, 英语词源]
highwayman (n.): "one who travels the highways with intent to rob people" (often on horseback and thus contrasted to a footpad), 1640s, from highway + man.
hijack (v.): 1922, American English, perhaps from high(way) + jacker "one who holds up." Originally "to rob (a bootlegger, smuggler, etc.) in transit;" sense of "seizing an aircraft in flight" is 1968 (also in 1961 variant skyjack), extended 1970s to any form of public transportation. Related: Hijacked; hijacking.
hijinks (n.): also hi-jinks, high jinks, "boisterous capers, lively or boisterous sport," 1842, from name of games played at drinking parties (1690s). See jink.
hijra (n.): also hijrah, the more correct form of hegira.
hike (v.): 1809, hyke "to walk vigorously," an English dialectal word of unknown origin. A yike from 1736 answers to the sense.
HIKE, v. to go away. It is generally used in a contemptuous sense. Ex. "Come, hike," i.e. take yourself off; begone. [Rev. Robert Forby, "The Vocabulary of East Anglia," London, 1830]
Sense of "pull up" (as pants) first recorded 1873 in American English, and may be a variant of hitch; extended sense of "raise" (as wages) is 1867. Related: Hiked; hiking. The noun is from 1865.
hiker (n.): 1913, agent noun from hike (v.). Earlier as a type of boat:
The "hiker" or "tuck-up" as it is more generally termed, is a craft peculiar to the Delaware River, and is to the youth residing along the banks of that stream what the racing shell is to the Torontonian .... The origin of the name "hiker" is veiled in mystery. No member of the clubs engaged in sailing these boats can give anything like a satisfactory derivation of the word. The most common explanation is that it is corrupted from the local verb "to hike," which means to run or fly swiftly. ["Harper's Young People," 1885]
hilarious (adj.): 1823, "cheerful," from Latin hilaris "cheerful, of good cheer" (see hilarity) + -ous. Meaning "boisterously joyful" is from 1830s. Related: Hilariously.
hilarity (n.): mid-15c., from Latin hilaritatem (nominative hilaritas) "cheerfulness, gaiety, merriment," from hilaris "cheerful, gay," from Greek hilaros "cheerful, gay, merry, joyous," related to hilaos "graceful, kindly." In ancient Rome, Hilaria (neuter plural of hilaris) were a class of holidays, times of pomp and rejoicing; there were public ones in honor of Cybele at the spring equinoxes as well as private ones on the day of a marriage or a son's birth.
Hilary: masc. proper name, from Late Latin Hilarius, literally "cheerful," from Latin hilaris (see hilarity). The name was more popular in France than in England. The woman's name (Middle English Hillaria) seems to be merged with this from Eulalia, name of the patron saint of Barcelona, a Latinization of Greek eulalos "sweetly speaking." The Hilary sessions of British High Court and universities (1577) are from St. Hilarius, Bishop of Poitiers, obit. C.E. 368, whose feast day is Jan. 13.
Hilda: fem. proper name, German, literally "battle-maid," from fem. of Old High German hild "war, battle," from Proto-Germanic *hildiz "battle," from PIE *keldh-, from root *kel- (1) "to strike, cut" (see holt).
Hildebrand: masc. proper name, Old High German Hildibrand, literally "battle-sword;" for first element see Hilda; for second element see brand.
Hildegard: fem. proper name, Old High German Hildegard, literally "protecting battle-maid;" for first element see Hilda; for second element see yard (n.1).
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.
hillbilly (n.): "southern Appalachian U.S. resident," by 1892, from hill + masc. proper name Billy/Billie.
Then again, I do not think It will do so well. I would hate to see some old railroad man come here and take my job, and then, I don t think It is right to hire some Hill Billy and give him the same right as I just because he was hired the same time I was. ["The Railroad Trainmen's Journal," vol. IX, July 1892]

In short, a Hill-Billie is a free and untrammelled white citizen of Alabama, who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he gets it, and fires of his revolver as the fancy takes him. ["New York Journal," April 23, 1900]
In reference to a type of folk music, first attested 1924.
Hillel: masc. proper name, from Hebrew, literally "he praised."
hillock (n.): late 14c., hilloc "small hill" (c. 1200 as a surname), from hill + Middle English diminutive suffix -oc.
hillside (n.): late 14c., from hill + side (n.).
hilltop (n.): c. 1400, from hill + top (n.).
hilly (adj.): late 14c., from hill + -y (2).