Dictionary

Houston en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• /ˈh(j)uːst(ə)n/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [j̊uːstɨn] (General-American)
• (General-American) audio
• [ˈhj̊uːstɨn] (General-American)
• /ˈhaʊstən/ county in Georgia, street in Manhattan, sometimes the surname
• /ˈhjustən/ (General-American)

Etymology

Originally from a place near Glasgow, from the Middle English equivalent of "Hugh's town". Analyzable as Hugh + -s- + -ton

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A habitational surname.
2. (countable, uncountable) A male given name transferred from the surname, of mainly American usage.
3. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ A large city, the county seat of Harris County, Texas, United States, named after Sam Houston.
   • Spring in Houston is scalding sidewalks and sun-drunk lovebugs. It’s dead grass and midday thunderstorms. It isn’t the beginning or the end of anything, just a prolonged in-between through dead-end traffic on I-45. 2020, Bryan Washington, Memorial, Atlantic Books (2021), page 254:
   • The family’s ordeal began last month, when they were rushing from Rio Grande City, where they lived, to Houston, where their daughter’s specialist doctors are based, for an emergency medical checkup. 2025 March 12, Nicole Acevedo, “U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer removed to Mexico with undocumented parents”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2025:
   • At least seven people were killed in the Houston area on Thursday as a destructive complex of storms with winds up to 100 mph tore through the area, triggering power outages that could stretch on for weeks amid soaring temperatures. 2024 May 17, Dalia Faheid, Paradise Afshar, Caitlin Kaiser, Joe Sutton, Mary Gilbert and Taylor Ward, “At least 7 dead after hurricane-force winds pound Houston as power outages persist amid rising temperatures”, in CNN, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2024:
4. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ A village in Renfrewshire council area, Scotland.
5. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ A town in the Bulkley Valley, British Columbia, Canada.
6. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Winston County, Alabama.
7. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ A city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska.
8. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ A small town in Perry County, Arkansas.
9. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ A small town in Kent County, Delaware.
10. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Suwannee County, Florida.
11. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Heard County, Georgia.
12. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ A township in Adams County, Illinois.
13. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Salt Creek Township, Jackson County, Indiana.
14. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ A small city and township in Houston County, Minnesota.
15. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ A small city in and one of the two county seats of Chickasaw County, Mississippi.
16. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ A small city, the county seat of Texas County, Missouri.
17. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in York County, Nebraska.
18. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Union County, North Carolina.
19. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Loramie Township, Shelby County, Ohio.
20. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ A borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania.
21. (countable, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Other places in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Wayne County, Tennessee.
22. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable) A placename: ▸ Ellipsis of Houston County.
    alt of Houston County
23. (countable, metonymically, uncountable) The Johnson Space Center, the NASA Mission Control complex located in Houston, Texas.
    • Houston, we've had a problem here.
    • [A]ircraft were carefully guided to a precise point in the sky up to 300 miles away by a dedicated ground-based team[.] Houston’s control of the Apollo moon missions was on a vastly greater scale, but parallels are not hard to see. 1996, Colin Latham, Ann Stobbs, Radar: A Wartime Miracle, Stroud: Sutton, page 98:

Forms

Deriveds

Houston, we have a problem · Houstonian · Houstoner · Houston County

Relateds

Hoston · Huston

Synonyms

Space City

Translations (21)

mr ह्यूस्टन (Texan city) · es Houston (Texan city) · tr Houston (Texan city) · ja ヒューストン (Texan city) · hu Houston (Texan city) · el Χιούστον (Texan city) · ka ჰიუსტონი (Texan city) · la Hustonia (Texan city) · sh Houston (Texan city) · ko 휴스턴 (Texan city) · ru Хью́стон (Texan city) · pt Houston (Texan city) · gl Houston (Texan city) · my ဟူစတန် (Texan city) · cmn 休斯敦 (Texan city) · cmn 休士頓 /休士顿 (Texan city) · bg Хю́стън (Texan city) · sh Хјустон (Texan city) · fr Houston (Texan city) · sh Hjuston (Texan city) · de Houston (Texan city)

wikidata: Q16555 · wikipedia: Houston