forest

pronunciation

How to pronounce forest in British English: UK [ˈfɒrɪst] word uk audio image

How to pronounce forest in American English: US [ˈfɔːrɪst] word us audio image

Noun:

the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
land that is covered with trees and shrubs
Verb:

establish a forest on previously unforested land

Word Origin

forest: forest: [13] The underlying sense of forest appears to be ‘outside wooded area’. It comes from the late Latin phrase forestis silva (Latin silva means ‘wood’), which was applied to the royal forests of Charlemagne. The adjective forestis (which became the Old French noun forest) was probably a derivative of Latin forīs ‘outdoor, outside’, which, like forās (source of English foreign), was related to Latin forēs ‘door’. In this context, ‘outside’ presumably meant ‘beyond the main or central fenced area of woodland’.=> door, foreign, forfeit

forest (n.): late 13c., "extensive tree-covered district," especially one set aside for royal hunting and under the protection of the king, from Old French forest "forest, wood, woodland" (Modern French forêt), probably ultimately from Late Latin/Medieval Latin forestem silvam "the outside woods," a term from the Capitularies of Charlemagne denoting "the royal forest." This word comes to Medieval Latin, perhaps via a Germanic source akin to Old High German forst, from Latin foris "outside" (see foreign). If so, the sense is "beyond the park," the park (Latin parcus; see park (n.)) being the main or central fenced woodland. Another theory traces it through Medieval Latin forestis, originally "forest preserve, game preserve," from Latin forum in legal sense "court, judgment;" in other words "land subject to a ban" [Buck]. Replaced Old English wudu (see wood (n.)). Spanish and Portuguese floresta have been influenced by flor "flower."

forest (v.): "cover with trees or woods," 1818 (forested is attested from 1610s), from forest (n.).