wanwood en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˌwɒnˈwʊd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From wan + wood.
Meanings
-
(poetic, uncountable) A pale or withered forest; a ghostly wood, implying decay or melancholy.
Áh! ás the heart grows older / It will come to such sights colder / By and by, nor spare a sigh / Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie; […]
1880, Gerard Manley Hopkins, “Spring and Fall: To a Young Child”, in Robert Bridges, editor, Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins: Now First Published […], London: Humphrey Milford, published 1918, →OCLC, page 51: