German

Noun

Wald m ‎(genitive Waldes or Walds, plural Wälder, diminutive Wäldchen n)

1. forest, wood, woods, woodland

Declension

Derived terms

English

Alternative forms

• wauld (Scotland)

Verb

wald ‎(third-person singular simple present walds, present participle walding, simple past and past participle walded)

1. (Britain dialectal, transitive, intransitive) To govern; inherit.

Etymology 2

From Middle English wald, iwald, from Old English ġeweald ‎(“might, power, possession, control, command, dominion, bridle, protection, subjection, groin, pudenda”), from Proto-Germanic *waldą ‎(“might, power, main”), from Proto-Indo-European *waldʰ- ‎(“to be strong, be powerful, prevail, possess”). Cognate with German Gewalt ‎(“force, power, control, violence”), Swedish våld ‎(“force, violence”).

Noun

wald ‎(plural walds)

1. (Britain dialectal) Power; strength.
2. (Britain dialectal) Command; control; possession.

Related terms

• wield

Etymology 3

From Middle English wald, from Old English weald ‎(“high land covered with wood, woods, forest”), from Proto-Germanic *walþuz, whence also Old High German wald (German Wald) and Old Norse vǫllr (Faroese vøllur, Norwegian voll, Icelandic völlur).

Noun

wald ‎(plural walds)

1. Forest; woods.
   • 1812, Walter Scott, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Digitized edition, page 124:

     … we still recognize the ancient traditions of the Goths, concerning the wald-elven,…

   • 1853, Robert Simpson, History of Sanquhar, page 16:

     the romantic pass of the "wald path," along which runs a spur of an old Roman road

   • 1857, George Bradshaw, Bradshaw's illustrated hand-book to Switzerland and the Tyrol, Digitized edition, published 2006, page 1:

     MARDEN and STAPLEHURST—All this part of the line, through the Weald of Kent, i.e., the wald or forest, which still prevails here.

References

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wæld

Etymology

From Old English weald ‎(“high land covered with wood, woods, forest”), from Proto-Germanic *walþuz, whence also Old High German wald (German Wald) and Old Norse vǫllr (Faroese vøllur, Norwegian voll, Icelandic völlur).

Noun

wald (plural walds or walden)

1. a wooded area, forested land, the woods; a wooded tract, forest preserve; the forest as a wild place

   Þe wurmes & te wilde deor ... o þis wald wunieð. — St. Margaret of Antioch, c1225

   Ȝif æi mon hine mihte ifinden uppe þissere wælden, ... — Layamon's Brut, c1275

   Beliagog in þat nede Fond him riche wald To fine. — Sir Tristrem, c1330

   Was nouthire waldis in þar walke ne watir to fynde. — Wars of Alexander, 1450

References

• Middle English Dictionary

Old Danish

Alternative forms

• wold

Etymology

From Old Norse vald.

Noun

wald

1. force, violence

Descendants

• Danish: vold

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *walþuz, whence also Old English weald, Old Norse vǫllr

Noun

wald m

1. forest

Descendants

• Middle High German: walt ("forest")
  • German: Wald ("forest")
  • Yiddish: וואַלד ‎(vald)
• Mòcheno: bòlt

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *walþuz, whence also Old English weald, Old Norse vǫllr.

Noun

wald m

1. a forest

Descendants

• Middle Low German wolt
  • Low German wold