# hough
## English
### Etymology 1

From Middle English hough, houȝ, hoch, howghe, from Old English hōh (“heel, hough”), from Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“heel”). Doublet of hoo.
The regular modern English development would be /hʌf/, /haʊ/; this has been replaced by /hɒk/, originating in the compound huxen (also *hoxen), from Old English hōhsinu.

#### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /hɒk/
* (US) IPA: /hɑk/
* (obsolete) IPA: /hʌf/
* Rhymes: -ɒk
* Homophone: hock

#### Noun

hough (plural houghs)
* Alternative form of hock (“the hollow behind the knee”)
** 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:In the bright light, lightened and cooled in limb, he eyed carefully his black trousers, the ends, the knees, the houghs of the knees.
* Alternative form of hock (“tarsal joint of a digitigrade quadruped”)

#### Verb

hough (third-person singular simple present houghs, present participle houghing, simple past and past participle houghed)
* Alternative form of hock (“to hamstring”)
** 1866, Charles Kingsley, chapter 25, in Hereward the Wake, London: Nelson, page 337:Far and wide the farms were burnt over their owners’ heads, the growing crops upon the ground; the horses were houghed, the cattle driven off; while of human death and misery there was no end.

##### Synonyms

* hamstring, hock, hox

##### Hypernyms

* See Thesaurus:disable

#### Derived terms

* hougher

#### References

* ↑ Meredith, L. P. (1872) “Hough”, in Every-Day Errors of Speech‎, Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott & Co., page 25.

### Etymology 2

See hoe (“agricultural tool”).

#### Pronunciation

As hoe.

#### Noun

hough (plural houghs)
* Obsolete spelling of hoe.

#### Verb

hough (third-person singular simple present houghs, present participle houghing, simple past and past participle houghed)
* Archaic spelling of hoe.
** 1748, James Thomson, The Castle of Indolence, K:LV
    Better the toiling Swain, oh happier far!
    Perhaps the happieſt of the Sons of Men!
    Who vigorous plies the Plough, the Team, or Car;
    Who houghs the Field, or ditches in the Glen,
    Delves in his Garden, or ſecures his Pen.

### Etymology 3

From Middle English ho, howe, hogh, from Old English hōh (“a promontory”).

#### Noun

hough (plural houghs)
* Alternative form of hoe

## Middle English
### Etymology 1

From Old English hōh (“heel”), from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄h, from Proto-Germanic *hanhaz. Compare hele (“heel”).

#### Alternative forms

* ho, hoche, hogh, hoȝ, hokke, hoo, houȝ, houe, howe, howghe, howh

#### Pronunciation

* (regular development) IPA: /huːx/
* (from inflected forms) IPA: /hoː/
* (generalised from Old English hōhsinu) IPA: /hɔx/, /hɔk/

#### Noun

hough (plural houghes)
* The heel (rear of a foot)
    Synonym: hele
* The hough (bend of the knee)
* The hock or its meat.

##### Related terms

* hokschyne

##### Descendants

* English: hough, hoff, hock
* Scots: hoch, houch
* ⇒ Yola: houghany

##### References

* “hough, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 2

From Old English hōh (“promontory”), related to hōn (“to hang”). Reinforced by unrelated Old Norse haugr (“hill, mound”).

#### Alternative forms

* ho, hogh, hoghe, how

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hoː/, /huːx/

#### Noun

hough
* promontory, cliff

##### Descendants

* English: heugh; hoe, hogh, hough, how
* Scots: heuch

##### References

* “hough, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.