English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

The Tolt

Early-attested site in the Parish of Hambledon

Etymology

The Tolt (6″). This is the dialect toll or tolt , 'a clump, a row, especially of trees.' The term is found in Sr, Sx and K. EDD notes a possible further use of this word in the Newfoundland tolt , used of a solitary hill, usually somewhat conical. The idea behind all these words is probably something which is bluntly pointed. Cf. Falk s. v. tulla , Franck s. v. tol 11. The added t is curious, d is occasionally added in colloquial speech, as in vild for vile , but no parallel for toll > tolt has been noted.