# forest

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfɒɹɪst/ · frequency rank #2,043

## Definitions
1. A dense uncultivated tract of trees and undergrowth, larger than woods.
2. Any dense collection or amount.
3. A defined area of land set aside in England as royal hunting ground or for other privileged use; all such areas.
4. A graph with no cycles; i.e., a graph made up of trees.
5. A group of domains that are managed as a unit.
6. The color forest green.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English forest, from Old French forest, from Early Medieval Latin forestis. The Latin could be:
* from foris (“outside”), as in forestis (silva) "(wood) outside,"
* or from Frankish or Proto-West Germanic *furhisti (“forest, fir-grove, wooded land”), equivalent to fir + hurst. In which case, related to Old English fyrhþe (“forested land”), Old High German forst, forsti (“forest”), Old Norse fýri (“pine forest”). Doublet of frith.
Cognate with Dutch vorst (“copse, grove, woodland”), German Forst (“forest”).
In this sense, mostly displaced the native Middle English wode, from Old English wudu (modern English wood) and Middle English wold, wald, wæld, from Old English weald (modern English wold, weald).

## Easily confused with
- **fort** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-fort)
- **fret** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-fret)
- **fresh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-fresh)
- **forms** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forms)
- **frost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-frost)
- **forex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forex)
- **forget** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forget)
- **forgot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forgot)
- **format** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-format)
- **forests** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forests)
- **Forrest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forrest)
- **forfeit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forfeit)
- **forestry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forestry)
- **forested** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forested)
- **forester** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/forest-vs-forester)
- **fest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fest-vs-forest)
- **foes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foes-vs-forest)
- **first** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/first-vs-forest)
- **fires** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fires-vs-forest)
- **fares** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fares-vs-forest)

## Common misspellings (8)
`fforest`, `foerst`, `foresst`, `forestt`, `forets`, `forset`, `froest`, `ofrest`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/forest