Forest Definition

fôrĭst, fŏr-
forested, forests
noun
forests
A thick growth of trees and underbrush covering an extensive tract of land; large woods.
Webster's New World
Any of certain tracts of woodland or wasteland, usually the property of the sovereign, preserved for game.
Webster's New World
A large number of objects bearing a similarity to such a growth, especially a dense collection of tall objects.
A forest of skyscrapers.
American Heritage
A defined area of land formerly set aside in England as a royal hunting ground.
American Heritage

(graph theory) A disjoint union of trees.

Wiktionary
verb
forested
To plant with trees; change into a forest; afforest.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
adjective
Of or in a forest; sylvan.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Forest

Noun

Singular:
forest
Plural:
forests

Origin of Forest

  • Medieval Latin foresta probably represents the fusion of two earlier words: one taken as an adaptation of the Late Latin phrase forestem silvam (“the outside woods”), mistaking forestem for woods (—a development not found in Romance languages; compare Old French selve (“forest”)); the other is the continuance of an existing word since Merovingian times from Frankish *forhist (“forest, wooded country, game preserve”) as the general word for "forest, forested land". The Medieval Latin term may have originated as a sound-alike, or been adapted as a play on the Frankish word (Gallo-Romans were often outraged by the King's exclusive hunting rights in the "outside forest". Emphasis to "outside" may have been an attempt to evoke danger, or to emphasise that the lands were banned from general note). Frankish *forhist comes from Proto-Germanic *furhisa-, *furhiþ(j)a-, *furhiją (“forest, wooded country”), from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷu- (“coniferous forest, mountain forest, wooded height”), and is cognate with Old High German forst (German Forst, “forest, wooded country”), Middle Low German vorst (“forest”), Old English fyrhþ, fyrhþe (“forest, game preserve, wooded country”), Old Norse fýri (“pine forest”), and Old Norse fjǫrr (“tree”). More at frith, fir.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English forest, from Old French forest, from Medieval Latin foresta (“open wood”), first used in the Capitularies of Charlemagne in reference to the royal forest (as opposed to the inner woods, or parcus). Displaced native Middle English weald, wald (“forest, weald”), from Old English weald, Middle English scogh, scough (“forest, shaw”), from Old Norse skógr, and Middle English frith, firth (“forest, game preserve”), from Old English fyrhþ.

    From Wiktionary

  • Latin forestem (“outside”) comes from Latin foris (“outside, out of doors”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer- (“door, gate”), akin to English door. More at foreign.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old French from Medieval Latin forestis (silva) outside (forest) from Latin forīs outside dhwer- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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