Where does “backwoods” come from?
Backwoods derives from English back and English wood, tracing through Middle English wood, Old Swedish nattbakka, Latin bassus, Ancient Greek βάσις, and Proto-Indo-European gʷémtis, originally meaning a foundational or base area.
backwoods (English): Partly or wholly uncleared forest, especially in...
Definitions
- Partly or wholly uncleared forest, especially in...
Ancestry of “backwoods”, step by step
backwoods traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English back
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | back | Near the rear; Not current; Far from the main... |
| 2 | French | bac | ferry; vat; high school exit exam in France; A... |
| 3 | French | baccalauréat | baccalaureat; bachelor's degree |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | baccalaureatus | bachelor's degree |
| 5 | Latin | baccalaureus | bachelor |
| 6 | Latin | laurea | laurel, bay tree; crown, wreath or branch of... |
| 7 | Latin | laurus | laurel tree; laurels; a crown of laurel |
| 8 | English | -aceous | Of, relating to, resembling or containing the... |
| 9 | Latin | -āceus | aceous; resembling, having the nature of, forming, belonging to |
| 10 | Latin | -āx | ish, -y |
| 11 | Latin | -ium | Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes... |
| 12 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 13 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
via English woods
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | woods | plural of wood; A dense collection of trees... |
| 2 | English | wood | The substance making up the central part of the... |
| 3 | Middle English | wode | madness, insanity, an overmastering emotion,... |
| 4 | Old English | wudu | wood; forest, woods; tree |
| 5 | Old English | widu | wood, forest, grove; tree; timber |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | widuz | wood |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | widʰu- | forest, wood; tree, beam |