What is the latin for forest?

Sisyphe · Post by **Sisyphe** » 04 Mar 2006 21:33

Prisma wrote:I was curious about the origin of the word forest. If anybody else had the same impulse, this is what I found:

Middle English, from Old French,
from Medieval Latin forestis (silva), outside (forest),
from Latin forïs, outside;

Yes, forest (forêt in moderne french, [fOrε]) came from french, as 40% of english vocabulary, with William the Conqueror, beside the original gemanic word "wood" (cf. german "Wald"). See also lord/master, calf/veal, big/grand (grand jury, a grand house, etc.) etc.

"forest" comes from maedieval latin "forestis", but that word is more probably to be linked to "forum", in the meaning of "tribunal", than to "foris" (from which comes however "forum"). The "forestis silva" was the wood which belongs to the king or the Lord or was unto is jurisdiction.

see dhwer- in Indo-European roots.

Didine wrote: Whaouh!

The Polish for "tree/wood" is drzewo.
And дерево (derevo) = "tree/wood" in Russian.

Let us be accurate : "foris" do not come from" dhwer". "dhwer" is (one of) the root who means "wood" (as material) in indo-european.

In addition to slavic word, "dhwer" gives also "drus" in ancient greek (the oak tree), "doru" (the spear, the doryphorus, or Colorado beetle, seems to have a spear) and "dendron" (the tree : dendrology is science for trees, dendrochronology is a way to estime the age of a tree by counting the circles of its stump).

And, "dhrew" gives "tree" itself (old germanic "triu"), which means also "wood" in somes languages (trae in danish, I think).

Prisma · Post by **Prisma** » 04 Mar 2006 22:32

The meaning "outside" in the word forest makes more sense to me than the jurisdictional one. Anyway it's just a personal opinion, I wasn't there to see why they chose that word.

Let us be accurate : "foris" do not come from" dhwer". "dhwer" is (one of) the root who means "wood" (as material) in indo-european.

Here you have my sources: X. That's why you thought I was refering to the word foris as if it came from dhwer-.

Prisma · Post by **Prisma** » 04 Mar 2006 22:50

Whaouh!

The Polish for "tree/wood" is drzewo.
And дерево (derevo) = "tree/wood" in Russian.
_________________
Saan kädessäni pitää tätä maailmaa
Kädelläni minä saan kaiken valon siitä puristaa

I love these coincidences

Btw, is it Kotiteollisuus?

Sisyphe · Post by **Sisyphe** » 04 Mar 2006 23:41

Prisma wrote: The meaning "outside" in the word forest makes more sense to me than the jurisdictional one. Anyway it's just a personal opinion, I wasn't there to see why they chose that word.

The oldest chartae seem to attest "my" opinion (which is not mine, of course

). I have no Tobler-Lommatazsch dictonnary handy (for it have ten or twelve volumes

but Niermeyer's Mediae aetatis lexicon thinks so : see olso the Trésor de la langue française :

http://atilf.atilf.fr/dendien/scripts/t ... nat=;sol=0;

Here you have my sources: X. That's why you thought I was refering to the word foris as if it came from dhwer-.

Well I should apologize : "foris" (former ablative of "fora", door, so "behind the door", cf. greek thurê, angl. door, old german Thür) does come from "dhwer", but not the same one according to Ernout and Meillet...

... After all, it would not be absurdus to think that "dhwer = the door" is the same as "dhwer = the tree", for actually doors are wood-made... I will ask my professors about it.

Be that as it may, at a certain time of PIE, "dhwer" = the wood and "dhwer" = the door were different and without so-felt relationship.

And I have to apologise, one more time, for my ugly english.

didine · Post by **didine** » 05 Mar 2006 01:03

Prisma wrote:Btw, is it Kotiteollisuus?

Yes it is.

Oletko suomalainen?

Prisma · Post by **Prisma** » 11 Mar 2006 20:56

Thanks for your explanations Sisyphe

I trust more on you than my sources.

didine wrote:Yes it is. Oletko suomalainen?

Nope, I'm just a student of the language and casually have heard of Kotiteollisuus