A living tree; coll. & pl. live trees; neue ~, new forest growth, fresh shoots, saplings, etc.; gon under ~, of the sun: to drop behind the trees.

(a) A group of living trees, a grove, copse, woods, forest, woodland; a plantation of trees; a woodlot; also, a wilderness area; coll. & pl. groves, woods, forests, etc.; also fig.; also, pl. with sg. force: wodes, a grove, a woods, forest, etc.; (b) ~ burgh, a forest stronghold, woodland fastness; ~ contree, wooded countryside, woodland; ~ craft, woodcraft; also, the art of the chase; ~ gore, a forest, woodland; ~ holt (linde), holt ~, a forest, woods [see lind(e n. 4.(b),(c)]; ~ knif, a hunting knife; ~ lond [OE wudu-land], a woodland, woods, forest; wilderness; wodes wilde, wilde ~, a dense or tangled woods, an uninhabited or sparsely inhabited forest [see also wilde wode phr. & n.]; ful of wode(s, wooded, forested; heightes (heigh thinges) of wodes, a wooded height; valeie of ~, valeie ful of wodes, a wooded valley; (c) a type or category of woods [quot. a1398]; bechen (linde, oken) ~, a forest of beech (linden, oak) trees, a beech (linden, oak) woods; grene ~, a forest that is leafed out, a greenwood [see also grene adj. 2.(b)]; heigh wode(s, a forest of tall trees, a lofty woods; maumet ~, Bibl. a grove sacred to a pagan deity or deities [see also maumet n. 1.(f) & cp. sense 3.(d) below]; out ~, q.v.; (d) in names of particular woods; (e) in phrases, cpds., and combs. denoting portions or constituent parts of woods: ~ bough (ris, wonde), coll. forest boughs, the forest canopy; ~ egge (eves, hem, rime, side), wodes eves (side), the edge of a forest, border or margins of a woods [see also side n. 3b.(c)]; wode(s ende, an outlying portion of a woods, edge of a forest; ~ shaue, q.v.; wodes shaue, shaue of the ~, a dense forest thicket, forest canopy; ~ wei, q.v.; wodes wei, a woodland road or path, forest track; (f) in phrases, cpds., and combs. denoting woodland animals, products, forest dwellers, officials, etc.: ~ be, a wild bee; ~ bukke [OE wudu-bucca], a wild goat; ~ cat, wood-cat, used as an epithet for the hare; ~ got [OE wudu-gāt], a wild goat; ~ honi [OE wudu-hunig], honi of the ~, wild honey, honey made by wild bees; also, ?a sweet-tasting leaf [last quot.]; ~ kepere, a forest keeper, an official in charge of the forest; ~ maide, an avowed virgin dwelling in the forest and devoted to Diana; ~ man, q.v.; ~ note, a nut growing on uncultivated forest trees, a wild nut; ~ rote, an edible wild root growing in the woods; ~ rouer, a dead tree; ~ shathe, a ravening monster; ~ ward, ~ wardie, ~ wose, q.v.; wilde men of ~, savage forest-dwellers; (g) with diminished force, in generalizing phrases and collocations: ~ and feld and dale and doune, feld and toune ~ and water mede and gras, etc., everything; in ~ or fen (wodes and wildernesse), in the countryside, in wild places; in ~ and in wone, outdoors and indoors; bi weies and bi wodes, on wodes and on feldes (tounes), etc., everywhere; with negative: in ~ ne in felde, etc.: nowhere, anywhere; to wodes and to feldes, to the wild country; haven feld and ~, to have property; also, in legal formulas: in ~ and mede (plaine), in ~ and in plaine in medes and pastures, in wodes plaines medes fedinges pastures, etc., everywhere, in or with all appurtenances; (h) in proverbs and prov. expressions.

(a) The hard, fibrous substance comprising most of the trunk and branches of a living tree beneath the bark, taken collectively; wood as the material forming the substance of a living tree; also in fig. context; also, the analogous fleshy substance comprising the stalk of a leek; ful of ~, woody, full of branches; of a bough: ?leafy, full of foliage; light ~, live twigs or shoots; thorn ~, the thorny parts of a rosebush; (b) the woody substance or parts of a living tree, regarded as raw material for building or other purposes, wood as a commodity or forest product; also, live trees regarded as a harvestable resource, standing timber; also, cut or fallen logs, branches, etc.; chater ~, q.v.; hegge ~, a piece of wood used in constructing a hedge; keie ~, wood unloaded or sold at a wharf; parcel (shaue) of ~, a stand of timber; polle ~, q.v.; reste (wind-fallen, wind-felled) ~; smal ~, cut branches or brushwood; under ~, q.v.; (c) the woody parts of a tree broken or cut up specif. for use as fuel, firewood; also fig.; also in proverbs; drie ~, seasoned firewood; ascel ~, brenning ~, q.v.; elinge (feuel fir) ~; grene ~, unseasoned firewood; gret ~, large fire logs; ol ~, q.v.; (d) wood that has been cut, seasoned, and shaped specif. for use as building material, lumber; a beam, board, plank; also, cut and seasoned wood as the material from which objects may be fashioned; also in fig. context; also, a wooden object; ~ cedre bemes, timbers or beams of cedar; ~ of idoles (maumetrie), maumet ~, Bibl. a wooden cult object, perh. a talismanic pole, used in pagan worship [cp. sense 2.(c) above]; astel ~, ?wooden poles or spits; ?billets of wood; cedre ~, a piece of cedar wood; reste ~, ?wood for making reests; (e) as quasi-adj.: made of wood, wooden; in combs.: ~ col, charcoal; ~ maumet, a cult object or shrine of wood [transl. of L delubrum]; ~ nail, a wooden peg, pin, or spike used as a fastener, a treenail; (f) in other cpds. and combs.: ~ axe, an ax designed to cut wood; ~ berere, one who carts or conveys firewood; ~ biere, a dealer in firewood; ~ bil (hak, hok), some sort of cutting or hacking implement, perh. similar to a brush hook; ?also, a grub ax; ~ cart, a cart on which firewood is conveyed; ~ cast, ?a wood pile; ~ fellere (heuere), a woodcutter or logger; also, ?a forester or keeper of the forest [quot. 1395-6]; ~ fir, a wood fire; ~ garth (haue, yerd), an enclosure in which firewood is stored, and perh. chopped or sawed; ~ hewet, q.v.; ~ hous, a building or room in which firewood is stored; ~ hous dore; ~ mongere (sellere), a purveyor of firewood; ~ sale, the sale of wood or of timber rights; ~ settinge, ?hedging; ~ shide, shide ~, ?split or splittable wood in the form of a board or billet; ~ werk, carpentry; tal ~, q.v.

In names of plants or their products: (a) ~ ache, prob. wood sanicle Sanicula europaea; ~ appel [OE wudu-æppel], the fruit of the crab-apple tree Malus sylvestris, a crab apple, wild apple; ~ appel-tre; ~ bane, some plant of the Arum family, prob. the cuckoopint or lords-and-ladies Arum maculatum; ~ belle, any of several varieties of bellflower (genus Campanula); ~ bend, q.v.; ~ berd, ?honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum; ~ berie, ?the fruit of the fig tree Ficus carica; ~ binde, q.v.; ~ bond, the woodbine or common honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum; ~ brake, some kind of fern, prob. the royal fern Osmunda regalis or common polypodi Polypodium vulgare; ~ broun, ~ chervel, q.v.; ~ clete, ?common burdock Arctium lappa or some similar plant [glossing L dactilium]; ~ clote, ?birthwort Aristolochia clematitis or some similar plant; ~ clover, ?some variety of clover (genus Trifolium); ~ crabbe, q.v.; ~ croue-fot, ?some variety of crowfoot (genus Ranunculus); ?an umbelliferous plant such as wild chervil or cow parsley Anthriscus sylvestris or wood sanicle Sanicula europaea; ~ dokke [OE wudu-docce], ?birthwort Aristolochia clematitis or some similar plant; ~ fenel, prob. wild fenel Foeniculum vulgare; ~ fille [OE wudu-fille], prob. wild chervil or cow parsley Anthriscus sylvestris; ?also, wild asparagus Asparagus officinalis; ?also, some other plant [glossing L lunderca]; ~ hove, ?wild garlic Alium ursinum or some similar member of the lily family; ~ ivi, the common or European ivy Hedera helix; ~ keie, ~ lectric, q.v.; ~ lek, some white-flowering member of the lily family, perh. wild garlic or ramson Allium ursinum or the European white hellebore Veratrum album; ~ letuse, one or more of the lettuces, perh. great lettuce Lactuca virosa or prickly lettuce Lactuca serriola; ?= ~ lectric; ~ lilie, some blue-flowered plant with a leafless stalk; (b) ~ merche, q.v.; ~ minte, a plant of the mint family, prob. pennyroyal Mentha pulegium; also, ?common spearmint Mentha viridis; ~ note, ?the deadly carrot Thapsia garganica; ?mullein Verbascum thapsus; ~ pipe, a plant of the horsetail family, perh. the wood horsetail Equisetum sylvaticum; ~ rove, q.v.; ~ rue, some variety of rue, perh. the common rue Ruta graveolens, meadow rue Thalictrum flavium, or wild rue Peganum harmala; ~ sauge, wood sage Teucrium scorodonia; ~ slo, the blackthorn or sloe Prunus spinosa or its fruit; ~ soure, ~ swithe, ~ thistel, ~ thung, q.v.; ~ wale [see wode-wale n.(2)]; ~ wax, ~ wexen, q.v.; ~ whistle [OE wōde-wistle], any of several hollow-stemmed plants, esp. hemlock Conium maculatum and cowbane Cicuta virosa [see also whistle n. (e)]; ~ whistle sed; ~ winde [OE wudu-winde], any of several creeping, spreading, or climbing plants, including the common European honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum, perfoliate honeysuckle Lonicera caprifolium, bindweed Convolvulus arvensis, and ground ivy Glechoma hederace; ?also, caper spurge Euphorbia lathyrus [glossing L capparis]; ~ wise, ~ wort, q.v.; ~ yarwe,? Cuckoopint Arum maculatum or ? Dragon arum Dracunculus vulgaris, perhaps by confusion with yere, yare n., q.v.; (c) wodes binde, ?wood sorrel Oxalis acetosella [cp. ~ binde n.]; blak slo of the ~, the fruit of the blackthorn or sloe Prunus spinosa; gret ~ belle, ?giant bellflower Campanula latifolia; half ~ [OE healf-wudu], perh. a species of calamint, esp. the field balm or lesser calamint Calamintha nepeta or bittersweet Solanum dulcamara or traveler’s joy Clematis vitalba; hiberne ~, q.v.; peti ~ belle, ?spreading bellflower Campanula patula; southere ~ [see souther(e adj. (b)]; southerne ~, worm ~, q.v.

In names of birds: ~ cok, q.v.; ~ douve, a wild pigeon, prob. the wood pigeon Columba palumbus, but perh. also the stock dove (Columba oenas); ~ foul [see wode-foul n. (a)]; ~ hake [see wode-hak(e n. (a)]; ~ larke, a species of lark;—usu. glossing OF chalandre: properly the Mediterranean calandra lark (Melanocorypha calandra), but in English usage apparently identified with the native woodlark (Lullula arborea); ~ spek, ?the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus major); ?an owl; ~ wale [see wode-wale n.(1.)].

In names of customary rents or obligations involving services owed to the lord with respect to the gathering, cartage, or provision of firewood, hedging material, etc., or the commutation of such services: ~ avering (fare), a rent paid in commutation of an obligation to cart wood; ~ bene (bon), the boon-work of plowing and harrowing a designated strip of demesne land, ?perh. in lieu of providing wood; ?also, the provision of wood as a species of boon-work; ?~ cacche, the obligation to collect wood for the construction or repair of implements; ~ gavel (peni, silver), a rent paid in commutation of an obligation to gather or cart wood; ~ lode, a cartload of firewood transported as a customary obligation; also, a performance of this service or a monetary payment in lieu of such performance; ~ lode peni, a monetary commutation of wode-lode; ~ waste, ?the clearing of brush or felling of timber; ?service or payment in compensation for having damaged a crop of timber; ~ werk-silver, the monetary commutation of an obligation to engage in some sort of labor involving wood; hein ~ silver, the monetary commutation of the service of supplying hedging material; somer ~ silver, ?a rent paid in commutation of an obligation having to do with the summertime carting of wood; war ~, q.v.

In names of other customary rents, obligations, and privileges: (a) payments made in cash or kind, in exchange for the right to use the woods or to gather firewood, etc. for personal use [some exx. may belong to sense 6a. and vice versa]: ~ corn (hen), a rent consisting of a quantity of grain (a hen) or its monetary equivalent; ~ foul [see wode-foul n. (b)]; ~ hire (silver), a money rent paid; ?also used as a general term for any sort of rent involving wood; ~ lond silver, ?= ~ hire; ?error for *~ lode-silver [cp. ~ lode peni in sense 6a.]; wei ~ ware, ?a tax exacted for passage of goods through a forest; (b) royal rents: ~ hake [see wode-hak(e n. (b)]; ~ half-mark, ?toll for passage through or use of the king’s forest; ~ wel-shot, ?payment for timber to be used for repair and upkeep of fortifications or other public works; (c) privileges having to do with wood: ~ gang, the right or act of entering the lord’s woods so as to take wood for personal use; ~ right, the right to gather a designated quantity or type of wood for personal use; ~ tale, the allowance of firewood allotted to a virgater.

(a) In surnames; (b) in place names [see Smith PNElem. 2.279-81].