Etymologically
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wood

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English wode,[2][3] inherited from Old English wudu, earlier widu (“tree, trees collectively, forest; the substance of trees”),[4][2][5] from Proto-Germanic *widuz,[2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *widhu- (“tree, wood”).[4][2] It is cognate with Old High German witu “wood”, Old Norse viðr “tree, wood” (Danish and Swedish ved), Old Irish fid “tree, wood” and Welsh gwŷdd “trees”.[4][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A tree: about 725, in Beowulf,[2][6] now obsolete.[6]

Semantic evolution

The first meaning was “a tree”, and “a collection of trees, a small forest” followed soon after, by 825.[7][6] The substance of trees, timber, was also an Old English sense.[4][2] Old English sometimes used it to mean “wild” as opposed to domesticated, as in wudubucca “wild goat” and wudurose “wild rose”.[4] As an adjective, “made of wood”, it is from the 1530s.[4] The verb, “to surround with trees”, is from 1538, and “to supply with wood for fuel” from 1628.[2][3] Not see the wood for the trees dates from the mid-16th century.[7] Out of the woods, “safe”, is by 1792,[4] probably from the 18th-century proverb “don't halloo till you are out of the wood”.[7] Touch wood is recorded since 1829, and knock on wood from the early 20th century.[7] In printing, wood meant wooden blocks for the largest type, by 1839.[4] A golf club with a wooden head is a later sense.[8][9]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – a tree.[2][6]
  • c. 825 – a forest.[6]
  • 1530s – adjective, wooden.[4]
  • 1538 – verb, to plant with trees.[2]
  • mid-16th century – not see the wood for the trees.[7]
  • 1628 – verb, to supply with fuel.[2][3]
  • 1792 – out of the woods.[4]
  • 1829 – touch wood.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The hard fibrous substance under the bark of trees and shrubs.
  2. This substance cut for use as timber or fuel.
  3. An area of land covered with trees, smaller than a forest; often woods.
  4. A golf club with a large head, originally made of wood.
  5. A cask or barrel: wine from the wood.

Adjective

  1. Made of wood; wooden.

Verb

  1. To plant with trees.
  2. To supply with wood for fuel.

Word family

  • woodless
  • wooden
  • woodland
  • woodpecker
  • woodbine
  • woodcock
  • woodchuck
  • forest
  • timber

Usage notes

A different word, obsolete except in dialect, is wood “mad, insane”, from Old English wōd, from about 725;[6][4][3] it is cognate with Gothic woþs “possessed”, German Wut “rage” and the god-name Odin.[4] Etymonline suggests that possible confusion with the noun may have discouraged its use.[4] It survived in the dialects of Scotland, Ireland and northern England.[10]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)