Horst
/hɔːrst/noun
A raised area of land bounded by faults, or a compact thicket or grove in some Germanic place names.
Did you know?In geology, a horst is the uplifted block left standing between faults, and the term was borrowed from German in the 19th century; the place-name sense is older and tied to a Germanic word for a wooded height or copse.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hurstaz
“wood, thicket, copse”
Old English
OE
hyrst
“wooded hill, grove, copse”
Old High German
OHG
hurst
“thicket, bush, copse”
Middle High German
MHG
horst
“thicket, bush, wooded height”
19th Century
German
Horst
“a raised block of the earth’s crust between faults”
Modern English
English
horst
“an uplifted fault block in geology”