forest

English Online Dictionary. What means forest‎? What does forest mean?

English

Alternative forms

• foreste (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English forest, from Old French forest, from Early Medieval Latin forestis, likely from Frankish or Proto-West Germanic *furhisti (“forest, fir-grove, wooded land”); related to Old English fyrhþe (“forested land”), Old High German forst, forsti (“forest”), Old Norse fýri (“pine forest”). Doublet of frith.

In this sense, mostly displaced the native Middle English wode, from Old English wudu (modern English wood) and Middle English wold, wald, wæld, from Old English weald (modern English wold, weald).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: fŏr′ĭst, IPA^(key): /ˈfɒɹɪst/
• (General American) enPR: fôr′ĭst, fŏr′ĭst, fôrst, IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹəst/, /fɔɹst/
• (New York City, Philadelphia) IPA^(key): /ˈfɑɹɪst/, /ˈfɑɹəst/
• Homophone: forced (US, sometimes especially in fast speech)
• Rhymes: -ɒɹɪst
• Hyphenation: for‧est

Noun

forest (countable and uncountable, plural forests)

2. A dense uncultivated tract of trees and undergrowth, larger than woods.
3. Any dense collection or amount.

   a forest of criticism
4. (historical) A defined area of land set aside in England as royal hunting ground or for other privileged use; all such areas.
5. (graph theory) A graph with no cycles; i.e., a graph made up of trees.
6. (computing, Microsoft Windows) A group of domains that are managed as a unit.
7. (uncountable) The color forest green.

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:forest

Meronyms

• tree
• See also Thesaurus:forest

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Category:forest on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Verb

forest (third-person singular simple present forests, present participle foresting, simple past and past participle forested)

1. (transitive) To cover an area with trees.
   • 1937, Széchenyi Scientific Society, Report on the Work of the Széchenyi Scientific Society: Founded for the Promotion of Research in Natural Sciences in Hungary, Zeéchenyi Scientific Society, page 83:

     From the view-point of national economy professor Fehér communicates to us most interesting facts, which he has established in an important question now of actuality : in the subject of foresting the Great Hungarian Plains.

Related terms

• afforest
• reforest

Translations

See also

Anagrams

• Forets, Fortes, Foster, fetors, forset, fortes, fortés, foster, froste, softer

Middle English

Alternative forms

• fforest, foreste

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French forest, from Early Medieval Latin forestis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔˈrɛst/, /ˈfɔrɛst/

Noun

forest (plural forestes)

1. A forest or wood (uninhabited forested region)
2. A preserve for hunting exclusive to royalty.

Related terms

• forester

Descendants

• English: forest
• Scots: forest
• → Welsh: fforest

References

• “forest, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-17.

Middle French

Alternative forms

• fourest

Etymology

From Old French forest.

Pronunciation

Noun

forest f (plural forests)

1. forest
   • 1544, L’Arcadie-Trad-Massin, Paris:

Descendants

• French: forêt

Further reading

• “forest”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Old Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin forestis.

Noun

forest f

1. forest

References

• “forest” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Old French

Alternative forms

• foreste

Etymology

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin forestis/-a.

Pronunciation

• (classical) IPA^(key): /fuˈɾɛst/
• (late) IPA^(key): /fuˈɾɛːt/

Noun

forest oblique singular, m or f (oblique plural forez or foretz, nominative singular forez or foretz, nominative plural forest)

1. royal hunting ground
2. forest

Descendants

• Franc-Comtois: fouré (Poisoux)
• Middle French: forest, fourest
  • French: forêt
• Gallo: forée (Nantais), forést
• Lorrain: [Term?] (/⁠forɛ⁠/) (St-Maurice-sur-Moselle)
• Norman: forêt (Cotentinais, Jersiais), foiret (Brayon), fouorêt (Guernesiais)
• Picard: foreû (Athois)
• Poitevin-Saintongeais: fouras (Châtellerault), fourêt (Saintongeais)
• → Middle English: forest, fforest, foreste
  • English: forest
  • Scots: forest
  • → Welsh: fforest
• → Middle Irish: foraís
  • Irish: foraois

References

• “forest”, in DEAF: Dictionnaire Étymologique de l'Ancien Français, Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1968-.