Windhill

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A district in the city of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, once a separate small town with its own identity
2. The name of a locality within Bradford, West Yorkshire, in northern England, known for its historic textile-era development
3. A settlement area in the English city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, bearing a name given to this part of the county

Etymology: Windhill is a district of Bradford in West Yorkshire, and its name is a plain English compound: "wind" plus "hill," describing a hilltop exposed to the weather. Place names of this kind are typically Old English or Old Norse in origin, and many of the Yorkshire villages around Bradford carry the Norse-influenced "-by," "-thorpe," or "-thwaite" endings. Windhill is different in form, built from two ordinary English words rather than a Scandinavian settlement suffix. The name is best understood as a descriptive field name rather than a commemorative one. Such names were often given to a particular rise in the landscape, sometimes by the people working the land there, and then attached to the settlement that grew up nearby. Because the words are transparent, the name needs little explanation beyond its topography.