What's the difference between a forest and a woods?

Question

What's the difference between a forest and a woods?

Answer 1

Wood is derived from Old English, Forest is Latin in origin.

Precious little difference in meaning.

Wood:

1 a : a dense growth of trees usually greater in extent than a grove and smaller than a forest -- often used in plural but singular or plural in construction

Forest:

1 : a dense growth of trees and underbrush covering a large tract

2 : a tract of wooded land in England formerly owned by the sovereign and used for game

Answer 2

A forest is usually much larger than woods.eg.Middlesex forest is now as small as some woods.

Answer 3

Woods and a forest are the same thing.

Answer 4

There is a difference if you look at what was understood by the words historically.  A forest implied that the Crown had hunting rights there, mainly of deer, and it was ground often not suitable for cultivation and could include non-wooded areas, it originally meant a place for deer not necessarily trees.  It could either be planted, as the New Forest was by William the Conquerer, or it was a wooded area kept for the deer rather than being cultivated for timber or other use.  Woods were more specifically associated with timber production, either by felling, coppicing or pollarding.

There's an interesting website here where you can read about this:

http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/c...

Answer 5

the spelling and origin of the word

basically means the same thing

Answer 6

woods dont hold much life as a forest would.

Answer 7

A forest is an area set aside for hunting, it needn't be covered by trees, but usually is, at least partially. the New Forest is a good example with large areas of open grass, heath and scrub land. A wood is an area where the dominant vegetation is trees.