Dictionary

woodland en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈwʉd.lənd/ (Northern-Ireland, Scotland)
• /ˈwɵd.lənd/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• (US) audio
• /ˈwʊd.lənd/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English wodeland, wodelond, from Old English wuduland (“woodland; forestland; forest”), equivalent to wood + land. Compare West Frisian wâldlân, Dutch bosland, German Waldland, Icelandic skóglendi. Eclipsed non-native Middle English salt (“woodland”), borrowed from Latin saltus (“woodland, forest”).

Meanings

1. Of a creature or object: growing, living, or existing in a woodland.
   • It was a couple of hundred years or so more before I saw a third bullfinch — which didn't surprise me, for bullfinches are very woodland birds, and non-migratory into the bargain — so that they didn’t often get blown seaward over the broad Atlantic. 1890 July, Grant Allen, “My Islands”, in Longman's Magazine, volume 16, number 93, page 341:
   • The woodland creatures ran from the fire.
   • The genera Philomela and Curruca, as we previously observed, are very closely allied to each other, both are woodland in their habits, and both possess great melody of song. 1839, Sir William Jardine, Bart., The Natural History of the Birds of Great Britain and Ireland, Part II: Incessories, part of The Naturalist's Library, W.H. Lizars, page 125–6
   • This species [[[w:Red-bellied Woodpecker|Red-bellied Woodpecker]]] is a very little larger than the red-headed one; and it is more woodland in its manners; seldom appearing in orchards or near houses, but keeping to the tall trees in the close forests. 1837, “Picus”, in Charles Frederick Partington (editor), The British Cyclopædia of Natural History, Volume 3, W. S. Orr & Co., page 446
   • As its name implies, this species Woodlark] is a more woodland bird than the other British Larks, and in many of its ways of life it resembles the Tree Pipit, frequenting the neighborhood of woods and plantations, but always affecting trees. 1894, R. Bowdler Sharpe, A Hand-Book to the Birds of Great Britain, volume I, W. H. Allen & Co., Limited, page 91:
2. (obsolete) Having the character of a woodland.
   • It is a very woodland country, with plenty of grass, but it is too large for four days a-week, and the sport is generally rather indifferent. 1827, "Amateur", “Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, and Bedfordshire Hunting”, in Sporting Magazine, page 64:
   • Shortly after leaving Swindon the main line enters Wiltshire, and runs through an extremely woodland district to Chippenham[…] 1871, George Gill, Fourth Reader, page 135:
   • […] understanding that their next fixture was in a very woodland country, and at a distance, I deferred this pleasure to another opportunity. 1835, Nimrod's Hunting Tours, page 109:

Forms

Translations (21)

ru лесно́й (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · ca forestal (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · ro silvatic (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · it boschereccio (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · bg горски (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · es del bosque (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · pt silvestre (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · gl forestal (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · es silvestre (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · mk шумски (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · de Wald- (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · es forestal (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · fi metsän (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · pt silvícola (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · unm tekënei (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · fr sylvestre (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · ro păduratic (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · ro pădureț (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · hu erdei (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · fi metsä- (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland) · hu erdős (of or pertaining to a creature or object existing in a woodland)

woodland en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈwʉd.lənd/ (Northern-Ireland, Scotland)
• /ˈwɵd.lənd/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• (US) audio
• /ˈwʊd.lənd/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English wodeland, wodelond, from Old English wuduland (“woodland; forestland; forest”), equivalent to wood + land. Compare West Frisian wâldlân, Dutch bosland, German Waldland, Icelandic skóglendi. Eclipsed non-native Middle English salt (“woodland”), borrowed from Latin saltus (“woodland, forest”).

Meanings

1. (also, broadly, in-plural, uncountable, usually) Land covered with woody vegetation.
   • Much as one appreciates the beauty of these woodlands, it was good to learn that some discreet tree-felling may open up the view still further. 1958 July 14, R. K. Kirkland, “Into the Mountains on the Festiniog Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 453:
   • Buried within the Mediterranean littoral are some seventy to ninety million tons of slag from ancient smelting, about a third of it concentrated in Iberia. This ceaseless industrial fueling caused the deforestation of an estimated fifty to seventy million acres of woodlands. 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:
   • Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain, / Here earth and water ſeem to ſtrive again ; / Not Chaos-like together cruſh’d and bruis’d, / But, as the world, harmoniouſly confus’d : / Where order in variety we ſee, / And where, tho’ all things differ, all agree. 1704, Alexander Pope, “Windsor-Forest”, in The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq., volume I, London: C. Barthurst et al., published 1788, page 39:
   • Meronym: woodlot
   • In the factory, a colourful woodland of knitted trees points towards a collection of bookends commissioned from Scottish designers and inspired by the globetrotting travels in 1894 of Dundee Courier journalists Marie Imandt and Bessie Maxwell. 2024 September 21, Eve Livingston, “‘Students want to stay here now rather than disappear to London’: how design transformed the city of Dundee”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 14 Jan 2025:
   • The earth glows with the colors of 1837 civilization ; the banks of the streams are enamelled with richest grasses ; woodlands and cultivated fields are harmoniously blended ; the birds of spring find their delight in orchards and trim gardens, variegated with choicest plants from every temperate zone ; while the brilliant flowers of the tropics bloom from the windows of the green-house and the saloon. 1838, George Bancroft, chapter XV, in History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume II, Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown:
   • The project has been subject to vocal criticism from a few loud voices complaining about its effect on ancient woodlands. One campaigner, Chris Packham, took his case to the High Court, where he comprehensively lost in early April - not least on the grounds that Parliament had authorised the works he was complaining about. DfT's business case notes: "There are [around] 52,000 ancient woodland sites in England. Of these, a total of 43 will be affected by HS2's route between London and Crewe (Phases 1 and 2a). Over 80% of the total area of these 43 will remain intact and untouched by HS2." 2020 May 6, Philip Haigh, “Just one more stop on the long journey to HS2 fulfillment [sic]”, in Rail, page 65:
2. (also, broadly, in-plural, qualifier:strictly, uncountable, usually) Land covered with woody vegetation. ▸ A low-density forest.
   • Near-synonym: grove

Forms

Coordinates

glade · clearing

Deriveds

woodland thicket rat · woodland vole · yellow woodland anemone · woodland skipper · woodland dormouse · woodlander · Hope Woodlands · smallflower woodland star · nonwoodland · woodland oxeye · woodland blue phlox · southern woodland violet · Eastern Woodlands · woodland white violet · woodland kingfisher · Woodland Hills · woodland star · woodland caribou · Woodland Park · woodland bison · woodland strawberry · woodland jumping mouse

Hypernyms

area · area · land · land

Relateds

gameland

Synonyms

timberland · forest · wood · holt · forest · weald · holt · woods · wold · wold · woods · weald · timberland · wood · grove

Translations (51)

fro boschage (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl védramo (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl fraga (land covered with woody vegetation) · cmn 森林 (land covered with woody vegetation) · bg гориста меестност (land covered with woody vegetation) · de Wald (land covered with woody vegetation) · es arbolado (land covered with woody vegetation) · de Forst (land covered with woody vegetation) · tl kakahuyan (land covered with woody vegetation) · da træbevoksning (land covered with woody vegetation) · es foresta (land covered with woody vegetation) · kl orpippalik (land covered with woody vegetation) · ro silvă (land covered with woody vegetation) · uga 𐎊𐎓𐎗 (land covered with woody vegetation) · eo arbaro (land covered with woody vegetation) · mhn bòlt (land covered with woody vegetation) · pt mata (land covered with woody vegetation) · ru леси́стая ме́стность (land covered with woody vegetation) · fi metsämaa (land covered with woody vegetation) · ru лес (land covered with woody vegetation) · fi metsä (land covered with woody vegetation) · fr bois (land covered with woody vegetation) · hu erdőség (land covered with woody vegetation) · pdt Woolt (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl vedramio (land covered with woody vegetation) · fa بیشه زار (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl bosco (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl albogo (land covered with woody vegetation) · es bosque (land covered with woody vegetation) · hu erdős vidék (land covered with woody vegetation) · es floresta (land covered with woody vegetation) · es boscaje (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl calo (land covered with woody vegetation) · ro pădure (land covered with woody vegetation) · de Waldung (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl mouta (land covered with woody vegetation) · pt mato (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl lubre (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl longuialbreda (land covered with woody vegetation) · pt bosque (land covered with woody vegetation) · es arboledo (land covered with woody vegetation) · cy coetir (land covered with woody vegetation) · ca arbrat (land covered with woody vegetation) · mk ко́рија (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl bosque (land covered with woody vegetation) · scn voscu (land covered with woody vegetation) · de Waldland (land covered with woody vegetation) · cmn 林地 (land covered with woody vegetation) · ro codru (land covered with woody vegetation) · gl vedrón (land covered with woody vegetation) · ca bosc (land covered with woody vegetation)