Beacon Hill

English

Etymology 1

Proper noun

Beacon Hill

1. An area in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
   • 1689, Samuel Prince, [Letter]; republished as “Samuel Prince to Thomas Hinckley”, in MHS Collections, series 4, volume 5, Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1861, →OCLC, page 194:

     Soon after, the king's jack was set up at the Fort, and a pair of colors at Beacon Hill: which gave notice to some thousands of soldiers on Charlestown side that the controversy was now to be ended; and multitudes would have been there, but that there was no need.

   • 1764, Journal of the Honourable House of Representatives, Boston: Green and Russell; republished as Journals of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, volume 41, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1971, →OCLC, page 12:

     Ordered, That the Members of Boston prepare the draft of a Bill for the better securing Beacon-Hill in the Town of Boston.

   • 1776, George Washington, [Letter]; republished as “Letters from Washington to Heath”, in MHS Collections, series 5, volume 4, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1878, →OCLC, page 5:

     The work on Beacon Hill should be repaired, and, in my opinion, be made strong, as it commands Fort Hill and all the lower works, and would endanger the loss of them, if it should be possessed by the enemy.

   • 1782, John Trumbull, M'Fingal: A Modern Epic Poem, in Four Cantos, Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, →OCLC, page 38:

     Some British officers, soon after Gage's arrival in Boston, walking on Beacon-Hill after sunset, were affrighted by noises in the air (supposed to be the flying of bugs and beetles) which they took to be the sound of bullets, and left the hill with great precipitation

   • 1794, Thomas Pemberton, “A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston”, in MHS Collections, series 1, volume 3, Massachusetts Historical Society, →OCLC, page 244:

     Beacon-hill is the second of a range of three hills which runs from the head of Hanover street W. to the water. This hill is the highest within the peninsula, and is situated on the western side of the Common. It affords an extensive prospect of the harbour, a considerable distance into the bay, and of the surrounding adjacent country. On the top of this hill was fixed a beacon, whence the hill has its name; the design of it was to alarm the country in case of invasion, by setting fire to a barrel of tar fixed on the top of it.

   • 1798, The Boston Directory, Rhoades and Laughton, →OCLC, page 7:

     A magnificent State House is erected in Boston, on the south side of Beacon hill, fronting the mall, the corner stone of which was laid with great formality and parade on the 4th of July, 1795: this superb edifice over-tops the monument on Beacon Hill.

   1. (metonymically) The Massachusetts state legislature and government.
      • 1978 November 2, Joanne Reiss, “Rules and Regulations Governing Town Meeting”, in The Winchester Star, volume 98, number 11, Winchester, MA: Century Publications, →ISSN, special section, page 1:

        Winchester approved the suggestion. Beacon Hill passed the enabling legislation, and the town voters ratified it.

      • 1982, Barry MacDonald et al., Bread and Dreams, Norwich, England: University of East Anglia, →ISBN, page 20:

        In 1965, when Beacon Hill passed the anti-segregation Racial Imbalance Law and thereby gave the Boston School committee warning of the shape of things to come, Robert Dentler and Alex Rodriguez were still in New York.

      • 2022, Kristen Schilt, Laurel Westbrook, “Bathroom Battlegrounds”, in Jodi O'Brien, editor, The Production of Reality, SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 398:

        Already in 2009, the Massachusetts Family Institute had run radio ads warning mothers that they may no longer want to let their young daughters use public restrooms because "Beacon Hill is about to make it legal for men to use women's bathrooms."

2. A neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States

Etymology 2

Calque of Cantonese 煙墩山／烟墩山.

Proper noun

Beacon Hill

1. A hill in Sha Tin district, Hong Kong
   • 2019 February 1, Ruixue Zhang, “Video: Hong Kong Humans – The students scaling new heights… on Beacon Hill”, in Hong Kong Free Press‎^[1], archived from the original on 23 November 2023, Hong Kong:

     As part of our Hong Kong Humans series, Ruixue Zhang finds that the city offers some incredible views… for those brave enough to scale Beacon Hill.

2. A neighbourhood of Kowloon Tong, Kowloon City district, Hong Kong

Translations

hill in Hong Kong

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 筆架山／笔架山

area in Hong Kong

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 筆架山／笔架山