A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on rectangular houses will have two triangular sides and two trapezoidal ones.
The shape of these roofs make them less susceptible to wind damage. As a result, they are entitled to greater discounts.
A square hip roof is shown in the illustration below:
