Meanings
plural afforestations
- countableuncountableThe act or process of creating a new forest where none had existed before, or reforestation of areas long deforested.
There are very few native trees in Iceland, primarily downy birch and rowan, but afforestation efforts are underway.
(Can we date this quote?), Andri Gunnar Hauksson, “Iceland vs. Greenland - What's the Difference Between the Countries?”, in Guide to Iceland3 more examples
Much might be said of the condition of the timber in the reserves, as typified in this locality, of possible means for its conservation and regulated use, and of the problems of afforestation, and of sylviculture generally, which are involved in the proper management of the reserves.
1899, John H. Barber, “Camping in a government reservation”, in Overland Monthly, volume 33, page 454While, however, the military critic from Britain might concur in this, he might tell us that the afforestation of such a wilderness as is Natal, for instance, is too large an undertaking for practical consideration.
1901 May 10, G. H. Davies, “Forest in War”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 5, page 142At first the Japanese, too, were careless in this respect, for the supply of camphor trees seemed practically limitless, but the great increase in the demand for the product in late years has made scientific afforestation necessary.
1920 March, Alice Ballantine Kirjassoff, “FORMOSA THE BEAUTIFUL”, in National Geographic Magazine, page 265
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latin-iō
- Late Latinforestis“forest”
- Latinad-
- Medieval Latinafforestātiō
- Englishafforestation
From Medieval Latin afforestātiō, from afforestāt-, past participial stem of afforestō (“to convert into a forest”) (from Latin ad- + Late Latin forestis (“forest”) + -ō (suffix forming verbs)), + Latin -iō (suffix forming action nouns). By surface analysis, afforest + -ation.
More words from Medieval Latin, Latin, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian залесяване
- залесяване (zalesjavane)creating a forest
Chinese Mandarin 植樹造林 /植树造林, 造林
- 植樹造林 /植树造林 (zhíshù zàolín)creating a forest
- 造林 (zàolín)creating a forest
Esperanto arbarigo
- arbarigocreating a forest
Finnish metsitys
- metsityscreating a forest
French boisement
- boisementcreating a forest
German Aufforstung
- Aufforstungcreating a forest
Indonesian aforestasi
- aforestasicreating a forest
Irish foraoisiú, coillteoireacht
- foraoisiúcreating a forest
- coillteoireachtcreating a forest
Malay penghutanan
- penghutanancreating a forest
Polish zalesianie, zalesienie
- zalesianiecreating a forest
- zalesieniecreating a forest
Portuguese aflorestamento, florestamento
- aflorestamentocreating a forest
- florestamentocreating a forest
Romanian împădurire
- împădurirecreating a forest
Russian лесонасаждение, лесоразведение
- лесонасаждение (lesonasaždenije)creating a forest
- лесоразведение (lesorazvedenije)creating a forest
Swahili upandaji miti
- upandaji miticreating a forest
Swedish förskogning
- förskogningcreating a forest
Ukrainian залі́сення, лісонасадження
- залі́сення (zalísennja)creating a forest
- лісонасадження (lisonasadžennja)creating a forest
- насадження лісу (nasadžennja lisu)creating a forest
Cite this entry
afforestation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afforestation
“afforestation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afforestation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “afforestation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afforestation.
Source: afforestation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.