Wold
/woʊld/noun
A high, open, rolling tract of country, especially one of chalk or limestone.
Did you know?*Wold* is old Germanic landscape vocabulary, and its deeper root is tied to the idea of a forest or wooded land, even though in English it came to mean open country.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*u̯el-
“To turn, roll, or wind; later extended in Germanic to wooded or overgrown land.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*waldaz
“Wood, forest, or wild upland land.”
Old English
OE
weald
“Woodland, forest, or uncultivated upland.”
Middle English
ME
wold
“Open upland country, especially a rolling or treeless tract.”
Modern English
English
wold
“A high, open tract of rolling countryside.”
Explore more surprising origins