woody English · revision 39511

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Old English, Azarias}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈwʊdi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|en|wood|-y]], from the noun with the adjective suffix:^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) Middle English [[m|enm|wodi]] or [[m|enm|woddy]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Old English had the adjective [[m|ang|wudulic]].^(Etymonline) The OED notes that ''woody'' may already appear in an Old English name of Woodyates in Dorset, if that name means "the gate or gap in the wood".^(OED 2026) The noun (1961) is formed from the same noun with a different suffix ''-y''.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Covered or overgrown with trees, wooded: Old English, in the poem ''Azarias'', according to the OED's revision of 2025.^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates ''wodi'' "abounding in wood, overgrown with trees" to the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and Merriam-Webster gives the 12th century.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From a1382 to 1609 a tree could be ''woody'', thick with foliage, and in 16th- and 17th-century poetry the word meant belonging to or living in the woods, sylvan (1569 to 1721).^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) Johnson (1755) put "abounding with wood" first, with examples from Milton.^(Johnson 1755) The sense "consisting of wood" followed: plants with hard, lignified stems are ''woody'' from 1543,^(OED 2026) or the 1570s according to Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and things that look, smell, taste or sound like wood from 1597, a sense later applied to the tone of musical instruments (1851).^(OED 2026) The noun is 20th-century American slang: a station wagon with wooden side panels, in surfers' slang from 1961,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) and an erection of the penis from 1990.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Etymonline also records ''woody'' for a wood pigeon by 1947,^(Etymonline) and in 19th-century British underworld slang ''the woody'' was the gallows.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – wooded, in ''Azarias''.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1382 – of a tree, bushy (obsolete by 1609).^(OED 2026)

+ * late 14th century – ''wodi'', abounding in wood.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1543 – of a plant or stem, consisting of wood.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1569 – sylvan, living in woods (until 1721).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1597 – resembling wood in texture or smell.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1841 – ''the woody'', the gallows, in underworld slang.^(GDoS)

+ * 1851 – of a musical instrument, having a woody tone.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1947 – a wood pigeon.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1961 – (US surfing slang) a wood-panelled station wagon.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1990 – (North American slang) an erection.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Covered with trees or woods; [[wooded]].^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Of a plant or stem: consisting of or containing wood; [[lignified]], not [[herbaceous]].^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

+ # Like wood in texture, taste, smell or sound: ''The cider had a faintly woody flavour.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (obsolete) Of or relating to woods; [[sylvan]].^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # (chiefly US) A [[station wagon]] or estate car with wooden panelling on the outside.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (slang, chiefly North American) An [[erection]] of the penis.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[woodiness]]

+ * [[nonwoody]]

+ * [[woody nightshade]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wood]]

+ * [[woodsy]]

+ * [[wooden]]

+ * [[wooded]]

+ * [[withy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scotland ''woody'' (also ''widdie'', ''wuddie'') is also a form of [[withy]].^(MWU 2024)^(Wright 1898) In Scottish, Lake District and Yorkshire dialect, vegetables that were stringy and fruit that was not juicy were called ''woody'', and the word was also used of tough coal.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}