*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Hole

Various origins: * English topographic surname for someone who lived by a depression, from Old English holh (“hole”), from Proto-West Germanic *hulwī, from Proto-Germanic *hulwiją. * Borrowed from Norwegian Hole, a habit

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
name

A surname.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Various origins: * English topographic surname for someone who lived by a depression, from Old English holh (“hole”), from Proto-West Germanic *hulwī, from Proto-Germanic *hulwiją. * Borrowed from Norwegian Hole, a habitational surname from Old Norse hóll (“round hill, mound”). * Shortened form of Dutch van Hole, a habitational surname from hol (“hole, depression, cavity”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "holh",
        "4": "",
        "5": "hole"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English holh (“hole”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*hulwī"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *hulwī"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*hulwiją"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hulwiją"
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "no",
        "3": "Hole"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Hole"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "non",
        "3": "hóll",
        "4": "",
        "5": "round hill, mound"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse hóll (“round hill, mound”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nl",
        "3": "van Hole"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch van Hole"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "English",
      "English"
    ],
    [
      "holh",
      "holh#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*hulwī",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hulwī"
    ],
    [
      "*hulwiją",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hulwiją"
    ],
    [
      "Hole",
      "Hole#Norwegian"
    ],
    [
      "hóll",
      "hóll#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "van Hole",
      "van Hole#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "hol",
      "hol#Dutch"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A surname."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "e144897459bf80a339398eb8bdfa8f7c8c2d7d8f310d80e813cbb11d6c7eea8b",
      "rawRecordSha256": "57a3286870d25355fc83d4c375b9ce25c62a7eee3ca24bd8d0924d9bc0ceccd5",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 327116
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Hole →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-SG9sZQ