Etymology

weald

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Today it means: A forest or wood. Full definition →

Middle English wald ← Old English wald ← Proto-West Germanic *walþu
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weald · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*wel-“to perceive, see”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*walþuz“forest”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*walþu
  4. Old English · inherited fromwald
  5. Middle English · inherited fromwald
  6. English todayweald

From Middle English wald, walde, weld, welde, wold, wolde, woolde, wæld, from Old English wald, weald, from Proto-West Germanic *walþu, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz (“forest”), possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to perceive, see”) or *welH- (“to roll, undulate”). Largely displaced by forest. Cognates Compare North Frisian wald, walt (“forest”), Saterland Frisian Woold (“forest”), West Frisian wâld (“forest”), Alemannic German and German Wald (“forest, woods”), Bavarian Woid (“forest, woods”), Cimbrian balt (“forest, woods”), Dutch woud (“forest, woods”), Low German Woold, Woolt (“forest”), Luxembourgish Wal (“forest”), Mòcheno bòlt (“wood, woodland”), Yiddish וואַלד (vald, “forest”), Danish val (“plain”), vold (“field, meadow”), Faroese vøllur (“lawn; field”), Icelandic völlur (“lawn; field”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk voll (“meadow”), Swedish vall (“field, pasture”); also Hittite 𒌑𒂊𒂖𒇻𒍑 (ú-e-el-lu-uš, “meadow, pasture”). See also wald, wold, ultimately of the same origin.

Weald · proper noun2

From weald.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishwald all →

Old Englishwald all →

Proto-West Germanic*walþu all →

Proto-Germanic*walþuz all →

Proto-Indo-European*wel- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.