forest

Overview

Meaning Now

• A large area covered chiefly with trees and undergrowth.
• Land set aside for the preservation of wild animals and the growth of timber.

Journey

The term originated in the Carolingian period as a legal designation rather than a purely botanical one. A 'forestis' was royal or noble land reserved for hunting, where normal village laws did not apply, and 'outside' the jurisdiction of the common law.

Evolution

1. Late Latin

   forestis silva

   “outside wood; royal hunting ground”

   Used to denote woodland subject to specific legal restrictions, outside of cultivated land.

2. Old French

   forest

   “extensive woodland, hunting preserve”

   Introduced to England via Norman French administration.

3. Middle English

   forest

   “large area of trees”

   Broadened from the legal sense of a hunting preserve to the general botanical sense.

Connections

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