Woodland

How to spell woodland

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce woodland

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does woodland mean?

1. nounLand that is covered with trees, especially an area of natural forest.

Woodland in a sentence

• A narrow path led through the ancient woodland behind the village.

• The charity bought the woodland to protect its rare birds.

Where does woodland come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Woodland is a native English compound, joining two very old Anglo-Saxon words: wudu, meaning a forest or a collection of trees, and land, meaning ground or territory. Both elements descend from Old English and have Germanic roots shared across the older Germanic languages, where similar words referred to wild, tree-covered ground. The combined form appears in early English to describe ground that is covered with trees, as distinct from open field or moor, and that practical contrast between cultivated land and wooded land kept the word in steady use. The spelling is reassuringly transparent because it simply stacks the two familiar words together, with no silent letters or borrowed endings to trip over. Its sibling word 'woods' comes from the same wudu root, which is why both still carry that comfortable, rustic feel.

How the word is built

• wood (Old English wudu: forest, trees)
• land (Old English land: ground, country)