English
wood
Wood comes from Middle English wode ‘wood (material)’, from Proto-West Germanic *widu ‘forest’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- ‘to separate’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weydʰh₁-1‘to separate’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(h₁)wéydʰ(h₁)us1reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*widuz1reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*widu1‘forest’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150widu1
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wudu1‘wood’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wode1‘wood’
- Englishearliest quotation 1542wood1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English wood
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1542, Sir Richard Devereux, London: J. Nichols: “Their be ii good bellys, a chales, and a…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weydʰh₁-Wiktionary, English wood‘to separate’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(h₁)wéydʰ(h₁)usWiktionary, English woodreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*widuzWiktionary, English woodreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*widuWiktionary, English wood‘forest’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150widuWiktionary, English wood
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wuduWiktionary, English wood‘wood’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wodeWiktionary, English wood‘wood’
- Englishearliest quotation 1542woodWiktionary, English wood. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1542, Sir Richard Devereux, London: J. Nichols: “Their be ii good bellys, a chales, and a…”
The story
The spelling developed as it did in wool. Further cognates include Irish fiodh (‘a wood, tree’), Old Irish fid (‘tree’) and Welsh gwŷdd (‘trees’), from Proto-Celtic *widus (‘wood’). Unrelated to Dutch woud (‘forest’), German Wald (‘forest’) (see English wold).
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with wood, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- ‘to separate’
- individual ← indīviduālis ← indīviduum ← indīviduus ← dīviduus
- wide ← wid ← wīd ← *wīdaz
- division ← divisioun ← dīvīsiō ← dīvīsus ← dīvidō
- device ← devis ← devis ← dīvīsus ← dīvidō
- divide ← dividen ← dīvidō ← *vidō ← *wiðō
- widow ← widwe ← widuwe ← *widuwā ← *widuwǭ
- devise ← devisen ← deviser ← devisō ← dīvīsus
- divisible ← divisibilis ← divido ← *vidō ← *wiðō
- fid ← *widus
through Proto-West Germanic *widu
- guy ← Gui ← *Widō
13 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun 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.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “wood”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.