forest

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“
He appeals to his experience of the terrors of the forest, of its dark places, of its threatening noises its stealthy ambushes, its sinister flickering lights its heart-tightening ecstasies of dread All this has no other effect than to fill Siegfried with wonder and curiosity; for the forest is a place of delight for him.

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Definitions (25)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun A dense growth of trees, plants, and underbrush covering a large area.
  2. noun Something that resembles a large, dense growth of trees, as in density, quantity, or profusion: a forest of skyscrapers.
  3. noun A defined area of land formerly set aside in England as a royal hunting ground.
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Examples (50)

  • Though we had bells, we lifted them up and silenced the clappers, so that in walking through the jungle road they would not ring and frighten the animals, for the forest is the dwelling place of silence, and silence being the voice of God, no man dares to disturb it. —  Kari the Elephant
  • For the forest was a mask. —  Marianson From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899
  • All the forest is his storehouse. —  Wood Folk at School
  • When the roof of the forest was a patterned ceiling against an incandescent glow, Birnier stripped to the waist, and submitted himself to the hands of the wizard who, after scattering the feathers of a scarlet parrot into the calabash, smeared the left breast, the forehead and the right arm of the white man, to the accompaniment of an incantation. —  Witch-Doctors
  • In places the forest was afire, in others the stubble of the field. —  The Long Roll
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin forestis (silva), outside (forest), from Latin forīs, outside; see dhwer- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also forrest; from Middle English forest, from Old French forest, French forêt = Provencal forest, foresta = Spanish Portuguese floresta (simulating Spanish Portuguese flor, flower) = Italian foresta = Middle High German vorest, forest, foreist (and prob. Old High German forst, Middle High German forst, German forst = Danish forst- (in comp.), although some German writers patriotically attempt to connect this form with Old High German foraha, forha, Middle High German vorhe, German föhre = English fir), from Middle Latin foresta, forasta, feminine, forestnm, forastum, n., forestis and forestus, masculine, a forest, properly a forest or space of ground over which the rights of the chase were reserved; sometimes distinguished as an open, wood, as opposed to parcus, an inclosed wood, a park (cf. frith in both senses). Middle Latin foresta also means a private fish-pond or fishing-place; in both senses it appears to involve the notion of interdiction (as regards cultivation or common use); cf. Middle Latin forestare, proscribe, put under ban, literally put outside or apart; Middle Latin Late Latin forasticus, out of doors, public, Middle Latin foresterius, strange, foreign, outside; all from Latin foris, foras, outside, out of doors: see foreign.
  2. = Middle Latin forestare, convert into a forest; from the noun. Cf. afforest, disforest.
 

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/ˈfɑrɛst/
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