Where does “woody” come from?
Woody comes from English wood plus the suffix -y, which derives from Old English wudu combined with a diminutive or adjectival suffix ultimately rooted in Latin -ia and -ivus.
woody (English): Covered in woods; wooded; Belonging to the woods;...
Definitions
- Covered in woods; wooded; Belonging to the woods;...
Ancestry of “woody”, step by step
woody traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Woodrow
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Woodrow | for a dweller in a row of houses near a wood |
| 2 | English | rōw | A line of objects, often regularly spaced, such as seats in a theatre, vegetable plants in a garden, etc |
| 3 | English | roll | To cause to revolve by turning over and over; to... |
| 4 | Middle English | rolle | — |
| 5 | Old French | rolle | registration |
| 6 | Medieval Latin | rotulus | a roll, list, catalogue, schedule, record, a... |
| 7 | Latin | rotula | a small wheel; roll |
| 8 | Arabic | رَطْل | — |
| 9 | Classical Syriac | ܪܝܛܠܐ | — |
| 10 | Classical Syriac | ܠܝܛܪܐ | libra, pound |
| 11 | French | litre | litre |
| 12 | Medieval Latin | litra | — |
| 13 | Ancient Greek | λίτρα | litra, a Sicilian silver coin; libra, a unit of... |
| 14 | Proto-Italic | *līðrā | ingot |
via Middle English woodi
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | woodi | — |