forest

[fawr-ist, for-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR forest ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a large tract of land covered with trees and underbrush; woodland.

the trees on such a tract: to cut down a forest.

a tract of wooded grounds in England formerly belonging to the sovereign and set apart for game.

a thick cluster of vertical objects: a forest of church spires.

verb (used with object)

to supply or cover with trees; convert into a forest.

Origin of forest

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French < Late Latin forestis (silva) an unenclosed wood (as opposed to a park), derivative of Latin forīs outside. Cf. foreign

Related formsfor·est·al, fo·res·tial

[fuh-res-chuh l] /fəˈrɛs tʃəl/, adjectivefor·est·ed, adjectivefor·est·less, adjectivefor·est·like, adjectivenon·for·est, nounnon·for·est·ed, adjectiveun·for·est·ed, adjectivewell-for·est·ed, adjective

Synonyms for forest

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR forest ON THESAURUS.COM

1. Forest, grove, wood refer to an area covered with trees. A forest is an extensive area, preserving some or all of its primitive wildness and usually having game or wild animals in it: Sherwood Forest; the Black Forest. A grove is a group or cluster of trees, usually not very large in area and cleared of underbrush. It is usually tended or cultivated: a shady grove; a grove of pines; an orange grove; a walnut grove. Woods (or a wood ) resembles a forest but is a smaller tract of land, less wild in character, and generally closer to civilization: lost in the woods; a wood covering several acres.

fore

[fawr, fohr]

adjective

situated at or toward the front, as compared with something else.

first in place, time, order, rank, etc.; forward; earlier.

Nautical.

of or relating to a foremast.
noting a sail, yard, boom, etc., or any rigging belonging to a fore lower mast or to some upper mast of a foremast.
noting any stay running aft and upward to the head of a fore lower mast or to some specified upper mast of a foremast: fore topmast stay.
situated at or toward the bow of a vessel; forward.

adverb

Nautical. at or toward the bow.

forward.

Obsolete. before.

noun

the forepart of anything; front.

the fore, Nautical. the foremast.

preposition, conjunction

Also 'fore. Informal. before.

Origin of fore

by construal of fore- as an adj., hence nominalized; fore and aft perhaps as translation of Dutch or Low German; sense “before” (defs 6, 9) perhaps continuation of Middle English, Old English fore in this sense, or as aphetic form of afore

Can be confusedfor fore four

De Forest

[di fawr-ist, for-]

noun

Lee,1873–1961, U.S. inventor of radio, telegraphic, and telephonic equipment.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for forest

woodland, park, wood, jungle, thicket, timber, coppice, grove, covert, cover, backwoods, shelter, woods, growth, stand, brake, chase, clump, copse, weald

Examples from the Web for forest

Contemporary Examples of forest

He first rose to prominence as a lawyer in Queens, who settled a boiling racial dispute over public housing in Forest Hills.
Mario Cuomo: An OK Governor, but a Far Better Person
Michael Tomasky
January 2, 2015
“It fundamentally changes the architecture of forest canopies,” says Watson.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants
Helen Thompson
December 21, 2014
The birds poop all over the forest, and thanks to the viscin, the mistletoe seeds in said poop stick to branches.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants
Helen Thompson
December 21, 2014
Instead, most of the suffering species ate insects on the forest floor.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants
Helen Thompson
December 21, 2014
From the looks of it, mistletoe is a keystone species and plays a crucial role in that forest ecosystem.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants
Helen Thompson
December 21, 2014

Historical Examples of forest

He is aged for such a journey, if you came from the Forest since morn.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
His spirit yearned after his father, and his heart was sick for his forest home.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
It is a venerable chestnut, and known as "the father of the forest."
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
In a forest, solitude would be life; in a city, it is death.
The New Adam and Eve (From "Mosses From An Old Manse")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
About daylight I reached a forest in which I could conceal myself during the day.
Biography of a Slave
Charles Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for forest

forest

noun

a large wooded area having a thick growth of trees and plants

the trees of such an area

NZ an area planted with exotic pines or similar treesCompare bush 1 (def. 4)

something resembling a large wooded area, esp in densitya forest of telegraph poles

law (formerly) an area of woodland, esp one owned by the sovereign and set apart as a hunting ground with its own laws and officersCompare park (def. 5)

(modifier) of, involving, or living in a forest or forestsa forest glade

verb

(tr) to create a forest (in); plant with trees

Derived Formsforestal or foresteal (fəˈrɛstɪəl), adjectiveforested, adjectiveforestless, adjectiveforest-like, adjective

Word Origin for forest

C13: from Old French, from Medieval Latin forestis unfenced woodland, from Latin foris outside

De Forest

noun

Lee. 1873–1961, US inventor of telegraphic, telephonic, and radio equipment: patented the first triode valve (1907)

fore

adjective

(usually in combination) located at, in, or towards the frontthe forelegs of a horse

noun

the front part

something located at, in, or towards the front

short for foremast

fore and aft located at or directed towards both ends of a vessela fore-and-aft rig

to the fore

to or into the front or conspicuous position
Scot and Irishalive or activeis your grandfather still to the fore?

adverb

at or towards a ship's bow

obsolete before

preposition, conjunction

a less common word for before

Word Origin for fore

Old English; related to Old Saxon, Old High German fora, Gothic faura, Greek para, Sanskrit pura

fore

interjection

(in golf) a warning shout made by a player about to make a shot

Word Origin for fore

C19: probably short for before

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for forest

late 13c., "extensive tree-covered district," especially one set aside for royal hunting and under the protection of the king, from Old French forest "forest, wood, woodland" (Modern French forêt), probably ultimately from Late Latin/Medieval Latin forestem silvam "the outside woods," a term from the Capitularies of Charlemagne denoting "the royal forest;" perhaps via Old High German forst, from Latin foris "outside" (see foreign), with a sense of "beyond the park," the park being the main or central fenced woodland.

Another theory traces it through Medieval Latin forestis, originally "forest preserve, game preserve," from Latin forum in legal sense "court, judgment;" in other words "land subject to a ban" [Buck]. Replaced Old English wudu.

1818 (forested is attested from 1610s), from forest (n.).

fore

adv.

Old English fore (prep.) "before, in front of;" (adv.) "before, previously," common Germanic (cf. Old High German fora, Old Frisian fara, German vor, Gothic faiura, Old Norse fyrr "for"); from PIE *pr-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).

As a noun, from 1630s. The warning cry in golf is first recorded 1878, probably a contraction of before.

fore

adj.

mid-15c., "forward;" late 15c., "former, earlier;" early 16c., "at the front;" all senses apparently from fore- compounds, which frequently were written as two words in Middle English.

forest in Science