Cowhill

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A place name referring to a hill or rural locality, most often associated with grazing cattle
2. The name of a hilly place or small settlement, typically one linked with cows or cattle pasture
3. A proper name given to a hill or hamlet, usually in a countryside setting where cattle were kept

Etymology: "Cow" comes from Old English "cū", and "hill" from Old English "hyll", so the compound is entirely native to English rather than borrowed. Its meaning is literal: a hill where cattle graze, or a hill that resembles a cow's back. Descriptive names of this kind were common across Britain, where farmland and upland pasture were close neighbours. As a proper name, Cowhill appears in Scotland, for instance in the name of Cowhill Tower in Dumfriesshire, and it probably arose independently in several places. The record for any single place would need to be checked locally, since the name was likely given by the people who worked the land nearby.