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forestis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word forestis

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
648, Merovingian diploma
Ultimate origin
Latin forīs
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin foris
Italian fuori
Latin forestis
French forêt
From the same root
Latin deforis ← foris
English forest ← forestis

Forms

forestis f (genitive forestis); third declension[1] Also foresta, forestum, forestus.[2][3][4]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[1][2] Most dictionaries derive it from Latin forīs (“outside”), with an ending as in agrestis and forēnsis:[5][3][6][7] a ⟨silva forestis⟩ would have been woodland outside the land open to common use.[3][4][8] Others connect it with forum (“court”), the wood belonging to the court.[1]

Wiktionary considers a Germanic source, Proto-West Germanic *furhisti, more likely,[1] and Etymonline allows that it came to Medieval Latin through a Germanic word akin to Old High German forst.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL cites it from a diploma of King Childebert dated 556, where the king's forestis is woodland that is not public,[5][6] but the MLW points out that this diploma is an 11th-century forgery.[2] Köbler dates its first use as a noun to a diploma of 648.[6]

Semantic evolution

In the Frankish kingdoms it was land withdrawn from common use and kept for the king, above all for hunting and fishing: a royal forest, a royal reserve of pannage for pigs, a royal fishery.[3] Lords then had their own forests,[3][6] and in the end it meant any forest or woodland.[3][1] It also meant the rights over such land, an offence against them, and even a kind of knightly game.[2]

In England it was land under forest law, and could also mean a heath.[4] English forest (late 13th century) came through Old French forest, and Etymonline notes that the Latin term appears in the capitularies of Charlemagne.[8]

Timeline

  • 556 – Date of a diploma of Childebert that uses it, now known to be an 11th-century forgery.[5][2]
  • 648 – A Merovingian diploma uses it.[6]
  • late 13th century – English borrows Old French forest.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) Land withdrawn from common use and reserved to the king, especially for hunting and fishing; a royal forest.[3][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A royal reserve of pannage; a royal fishery.[3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A lord's forest or hunting ground.[3][6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A forest, woodland; a heath.[3][1][4]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Forest rights; an offence against them.[2]

Word family

  • forestārius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Forestis.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/forestis. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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