wald

See also: Wald

English

Alternative forms

• wauld (Scotland)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɔːld/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːld

Etymology 1

From Middle English walden, from Old English wealdan (“to rule, control, determine, direct, command, govern, possess, wield, exercise, cause, bring about”), from Proto-West Germanic *waldan, from Proto-Germanic *waldaną (“to reign”), from Proto-Indo-European *waldʰ- (“to be strong, be powerful, prevail, possess”).

Cognates

Cognate with German walten (“to prevail, reign, dominate”), Danish volde (“to cause”), Icelandic valda (“to cause”), Lithuanian valda (“land property”), Lithuanian valdyti (“to rule”).

Verb

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

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

Etymology 2

From Middle English wald, iwald, from Old English weald (“power, authority”), from Proto-Germanic *waldą (“power”), 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. (UK dialectal) Power; strength.
2. (UK 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-West Germanic *walþu, 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^[1], 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^[2], 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.

Related terms

• weald
• wold

Anagrams

• Lawd, W.D. La., awdl

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wæld, wold, wolde, wald, walde, weld, welde

Etymology

From Old English weald (“high land covered with wood, woods, forest”), from Proto-West Germanic *walþu, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz.

Noun

wald (plural walds or walden)

1. wood (wooded area), forest
   • c. 1225, St. Margaret of Antioch:

     Þe wurmes & te wilde deor ... o þis wald wunieð.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 1275, Layamon, Brut:

     Ȝif æi mon hine mihte ifinden uppe þissere wælden, ...

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 1330, Sir Tristrem:

     Beliagog in þat nede Fond him riche wald To fine.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1450, Wars of Alexander:

     Was nouthire waldis in þar walke ne watir to fynde.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: wold, weald, wald
• Scots: wald

References

• “wōld, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Danish

Alternative forms

• wold

Etymology

From Old Norse vald, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz.

Noun

wald

1. force, violence

Descendants

• Danish: vold

Old High German

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈwald]

Noun

wald m

1. forest

Descendants

• Middle High German: walt
  • Alemannic German: Wald

    Swabian: Wald

  • Bavarian: Woid, Woold

    Cimbrian: balt

    Mòcheno: bòlt

  • Central Franconian: Wald (widely obsolete)

    Hunsrik: Wald

    Luxembourgish: Wal

  • German: Wald
  • Rhine Franconian: Wald, Wall

    Frankfurterisch: [valt]

  • Yiddish: וואַלד (vald)

Old Saxon

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɑlˌd/

Noun

wald m

1. forest

Declension

Declension of wald (masculine a-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	wald	waldos
accusative	wald	waldos
genitive	waldes	waldō
dative	walde	waldum
instrumental	—	—

Descendants

• Middle Low German: wôlt, wôld
  • Dutch Low Saxon: woold, woud
  • German Low German: Woolt, Woold, Wold
    • Plautdietsch: Woolt