Etymology

Always derived from ON, cp. OIcel hylja 'hide, cover' < PGmc *xuljan- (cp. Go huljan, OFris bi-hella, OS bi-hullean, OHG hullen) derived on the zero-grade of the st. v. *xelan, cp.  OE helan 'conceal, hide', OFris hela, OS helan, OHG helan. A verbal derivative on the u-grade is not attested in OE, although some commentators reconstruct a *hyllan.

PGmc Ancestor

*xuljan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

hylja 'to hide, cover'
(ONP hylja (2) (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far hylja, Icel hylja, Norw hylja, Dan hylle, Sw hölja

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

C1a

Attestation

First attested in the mid 13c., this v. is widespread in ME. In MnE, it is recorded from N/EM dial.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Cl 1397; WA 146, 1010, 3450 etc.

The D MS of WA reads <hold> at 1010.

Bibliography

MED hilen (v.) , OED hill (v.1) , HTOED , EDD hill (v.2 and sb.2), Bj. 243, de Vries hylja (1), Mag. hylja, Orel *xuljanan, AEW hyllan