wold

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Noun 1.2.1 Usage notes 1.2.2 Derived terms 1.2.3 Related terms 1.3 References

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English weald (“‘forest’”). Akin to German Wald, Old Norse völlr (“‘field’”).

[edit] Noun

wold (plural wolds)

1. An unforested or deforested plain, a grassland, a moor.
2. (obsolete) A wood or forest, especially a wooded upland

[edit] Usage notes

• Used in many English place-names, always hilly tracts of land.

[edit] Derived terms

• Cotswolds
• Lincolnshire Wolds
• wolder
• Yorkshire Wolds

[edit] Related terms

• Wald (German) is a cognate, but a false friend because it retains the original meaning of forest.

[edit] References

• OED 2nd edition 1989