Added 9 October 2026

wood

/wʊd/ noun

In Latin: lignum Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wood at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

The substance making up the central part of the trunk and branches of a tree. Used as a material for construction, to manufacture various items, etc. or as fuel.
This table is made of wood.
The wood from a particular species of tree.
Teak is much used for outdoor benches, but a number of other woods are also suitable, such as ipé, redwood, etc.
A forested or wooded area.
A wood beyond this moor was viewed as a border area in the seventeenth century.

To cover or plant with trees.
To hide behind trees.
To supply with wood, or get supplies of wood for.
to wood a steamboat or a locomotive

From Middle English wode, from Old English wudu, widu (“wood, forest, grove; tree; timber”), from Proto-West Germanic *widu, from Proto-Germanic *widuz (“wood”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate”). The spelling developed as it did in wool. Cognate with Dutch wede (“wood, twig”), Middle High German wite (“wood”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish ved (“wood”), Elfdalian wið (“wood, timber”), Faroese and Icelandic viður (“wood”), Norwegian Nynorsk ved (“wood, firewood”), vid (“wide, broad”). Further cognates include Irish fiodh (“a wood, tree”), Old Irish fid (“tree”) and Welsh gwŷdd (“trees”), from Proto-Celtic *widus (“wood”).