''-hou'' or ''hou'' is a place-name element found commonly in the Norman toponymy of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

and continental

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

Etymology and signification

Its etymology and meaning are disputed, but most specialists think it comes from Saxon or Anglo-Saxon ''hōh'' "heel", sometimes ''hō'', then "heel-shaped promontory", "rocky steep slope", "steep shore". This toponymic appellative appears as a final ''-hou'' or associated with the Romance

definite article In grammar, an article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" ...

''le Hou''. It can be found everywhere in Normandy, but more in the western part of it. The English toponymy uses this Saxon or Anglo-Saxon element the same way, but its result is phonetically ''-hoo'' or ''-hoe'', sometimes ''-(h)ow'' or ''-ho'' e. g. : Northoo (Suffolk); Poddinghoo (Worcestershire); Millhoo (Essex);

Fingringhoe Fingringhoe is a village and civil parish in the City of Colchester district of Essex, England. The centre of the village is classified as a conservation area, featuring a traditional village pond and red telephone box. The Roman River flows ...

(Essex); Rainow (Cheshire);

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

(London); etc. Eilert Ekwall, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'' (4th edition), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1960, p. 244b. As an independent element it is ''Hoe, Hoo, Hooe, Ho'' or ''the Hoe'', e.g. the Hoe at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

(Dorset) above the harbour. In Normandy, it may have sometimes mixed up with

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''hólmr'', meaning a small island, and often found anglicised elsewhere as "holm". It can still be found in modern Scandinavian languages, e.g. Stockholm. The normal evolution of ''hólmr'' in Normandy is ''-homme'', ''-houme'', even ''-onne'' at the end of a toponym and le Homme, le Houlme, le Hom with the article. The Norman toponym and

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

''hommet / houmet'' also derives from this element. In Parisian French, the equivalent is ''îlot'', which is cognate with the English "islet".

Channel Islands

Bailiwick of Guernsey

* Off

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

Lihou Lihou () is a small tidal island just off the west coast of the island of Guernsey, in the English Channel, between Great Britain and France. Administratively, Lihou forms part of the Parish of St Peter's in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and is ...

* Off

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

** Burhou * Off

Herm Herm (Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, ...

** Jethou * Off

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

Brecqhou Brecqhou (or Brechou; ) is one of the Channel Islands, located off the west coast of Sark where they are now geographically detached from each other. Brecqhou is politically part of both Sark and the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It has been establishe ...

Bailiwick of Jersey

* Les Écréhous * La Rocco (from ''rocque-hou'') * Icho (from ''ic-hou'')

Continental Normandy

''-hou''

*Manche **Bléhou, hamlet at Sainteny. **Bunehou, hamlet and manor at Saint-Germain-le-Gaillard. **Ingrehou, hamlet at Saint-Sauveur-de-Pierrepont. **Cap Lihou, à Granville **Néhou, hamlet at Auvers. **Nehou, hamlet at Gatteville-le-Phare. **Primehou, hamlet at Nay. ** Tatihou ** Quettehou ** Néhou ** Tribehou *Eure **Quatre-houx (''Catehou'' 1174, ''Cathoux'' without date), hamlet at

le Noyer-en-Ouche Le Noyer-en-Ouche (, literally ''Le Noyer in Ouche'') is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. Geography The commune along with another 69 communes shares part of a 4,747 hectare, Natura 2000 conservation area, ca ...

*Seine-Maritime **Le Conihout (''Conihou'' end of the 12th century), hamlet at le Mesnil-sous-Jumièges

Variant form ''Ho- / Hau-''

*Hotot *Hautot See Huttoft, England

Notes

References

*'' Noms de lieux de Normandie'', René Lepelley, 1999 Paris *''Jersey Place Names'', Stevens, Arthur & Stevens, 1986 Jersey {{DEFAULTSORT:Hou Norman language Channel Islands Place name element etymologies English suffixes