wold

noun
/wəʊld/UK/wəwld//woʊld/CA

Etymology

From Middle English wald, walde, weld, welde, wold, wolde, woolde, wæld, from Old English wald, weald, from Proto-West Germanic *walþu, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz (“forest”), possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to perceive, see”) or *welH- (“to roll, undulate”). Largely displaced by forest. Cognates Compare North Frisian wald, walt (“forest”), Saterland Frisian Woold (“forest”), West Frisian wâld (“forest”), Alemannic German and German Wald (“forest, woods”), Bavarian Woid (“forest, woods”), Cimbrian balt (“forest, woods”), Dutch woud (“forest, woods”), Low German Woold, Woolt (“forest”), Luxembourgish Wal (“forest”), Mòcheno bòlt (“wood, woodland”), Yiddish וואַלד (vald, “forest”), Danish val (“plain”), vold (“field, meadow”), Faroese vøllur (“lawn; field”), Icelandic völlur (“lawn; field”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk voll (“meadow”), Swedish vall (“field, pasture”); also Hittite 𒌑𒂊𒂖𒇻𒍑 (ú-e-el-lu-uš, “meadow, pasture”). See also wald, weald, ultimately of the same origin.

  1. inherited from *wel- — “to perceive, see
  2. inherited from *walþuz — “forest
  3. inherited from *walþu
  4. inherited from wald
  5. inherited from wald

Definitions

  1. An unforested or deforested plain, a grassland, a moor.

    • Saint Withold footed thrice the ’old; He met the nightmare, and her nine fold;
    • […]—I came with my cousin, Frank Osbaldistone, there, and I must shew him the way back again to the Hall, or he’ll lose himself in the wolds.
    • And therefore did he take a trusty band To traverse Acarnania forest wide, In war well-seasoned, and with labours tanned, Till he did greet white Achelous’ tide, And from his farther bank Ætolia’s wolds espied.
  2. A wood or forest, especially a wooded upland.

  3. Old.

    • "[A] girt wind had a-blowed the wold tree auver, so that his head were in the water."
    • "I've got a wold silver spoon, and a wold graven seal at home, too; but, Lord, what's a graven seal?"
  4. + 1 more definition
    1. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for wold. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA