English Explanatory Dictionary

forest

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A dense uncultivated tract of trees and undergrowth, larger than woods.
  2. Any dense collection or amount.
  3. A defined area of land set aside in England as royal hunting ground or for other privileged use; all such areas.
  4. A graph with no cycles; i.e., a graph made up of trees.
  5. A group of domains that are managed as a unit.
  6. The color forest green.
verb
  1. To cover an area with trees.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. A city, the county seat of Scott County, Mississippi, United States.
  3. A number of townships in the United States, in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan (3), Minnesota (2), and Missouri, listed under Forest Township.
  4. A hamlet in Ellerton-on-Swale parish, North Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref NZ2700).
  5. A locality in Circular Head Council, north western Tasmania, Australia.
  6. Nottingham Forest F.C.
  7. A male given name: Alternative form of Forrest.

Pronunciation

fŏr′ĭst /ˈfɒɹɪst/ En-uk-forest.ogg fôr′ĭst fôrst /ˈfɔɹəst/ /fɔɹst/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Exilexi-forest.wav En-us-forest.ogg /ˈfɑɹɪst/ /ˈfɑɹəst/

Word forms

forest forests foreste foresting forested

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English forest, from Old French forest, from Early Medieval Latin forestis. The Latin could be: * from foris (“outside”), as in forestis (silva) "(wood) outside," * or from Frankish or Proto-West Germanic *furhisti (“forest, fir-grove, wooded land”), equivalent to fir + hurst. In which case, related to Old English fyrhþe (“forested land”), Old High German forst, forsti (“forest”), Old Norse fýri (“pine forest”). Doublet of frith. Cognate with Dutch vorst (“copse, grove, woodland”), German Forst (“forest”). In this sense, mostly displaced the native Middle English wode, from Old English wudu (modern English wood) and Middle English wald, wold, wæld, from Old English wald, weald (modern English wald, weald, wold).

Synonyms

forest woods woodland

Related words

timber arboretum orchard pinetum stand afforest reforest bush firth grove holt hurst jungle shaw thicket tree wald weald wold wood woodland woods

Derived words

African forest elephant agriforest agroforest amber forest cockroach Ardenne Forest Ardennes Forest Back Forest bastion forest Bauple Forest Beech Forest Bellmount Forest Black Forest black forest cake Bohemian Forest Bondi Forest Bowland Forest High Bowland Forest Low Bowmans Forest Bracknell Forest Bulga Forest Bulwell Forest Campbells Forest can't see the forest for the trees Charleys Forest cloud forest Coominglah Forest cryptoforest Darkes Forest dark forest hypothesis Dartmoor Forest Dingo Forest disforest drift of the forest Duffys Forest Dundee Forest enforest Epping Forest Far Forest Finnish forest reindeer flame-of-the-forest flame of the forest Flodge fog forest Forest forestage forestal forestation forest batis forest-bill forest-blue forest-born forest caterpillar hunter Forest City Forest County forest court forestcraft Forest Creek Forestdale forested forest elephant
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