Category:Forest

For"est, n. Etym: [OF. forest, F. forêt, LL. forestis, also, forestus, forestum, foresta, prop., open ground reserved for the chase, fr. L. foris, foras, out of doors, abroad. See Foreign.]

1. An extensive wood; a large tract of land covered with trees; in the United States, a wood of native growth, or a tract of woodland which has never been cultivated.

2. (Eng. Law)

Defn: A large extent or precinct of country, generally waste and woody, belonging to the sovereign, set apart for the keeping of game for his use, not inclosed, but distinguished by certain limits, and protected by certain laws, courts, and officers of its own. Burrill.

forest For"est, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a forest; sylvan. Forest fly. (Zoöl.) (a) One of numerous species of blood-sucking flies, of the family Tabanidæ, which attack both men and beasts. See Horse fly. (b) A fly of the genus Hippobosca, esp. H. equina. See Horse tick. -- Forest glade, a grassy space in a forest. Thomson. -- Forest laws, laws for the protection of game, preservation of timber, etc., in forests. -- Forest tree, a tree of the forest, especially a timber tree, as distinguished from a fruit tree.

forest For"est, v. t.

Defn: To cover with trees or wood.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Forest - Heb. ya'ar, meaning a dense wood, from its luxuriance. Thus all the great primeval forests of Syria (Ecclesiastes 2:6; Isaiah 44:14; Jeremiah 5:6; Micah 5:8). The most extensive was the trans-Jordanic forest of Ephraim (2 Samuel 18:6, 2 Samuel 18:8; Joshua 17:15, Joshua 17:18), which is probably the same as the wood of Ephratah (Psalms 132:6), some part of the great forest of Gilead. It was in this forest that Absalom was slain by Joab. David withdrew to the forest of Hareth in the mountains of Judah to avoid the fury of Saul (1 Samuel 22:5). We read also of the forest of Bethel (2 Kings 2:23, 2 Kings 2:24), and of that which the Israelites passed in their pursuit of the Philistines (1 Samuel 14:25), and of the forest of the cedars of Lebanon (1 Kings 4:33; 2 Kings 19:23; Hosea 14:5, Hosea 14:6). "The house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:2; 1 Kings 10:17; 2 Chronicles 9:16) was probably Solomon's armory, and was so called because the wood of its many pillars came from Lebanon, and they had the appearance of a forest. (See BAALBEC.) Heb. horesh, denoting a thicket of trees, underwood, jungle, bushes, or trees entangled, and therefore affording a safe hiding-place. This word is rendered "forest" only in 2 Chronicles 27:4. It is also rendered "wood", the "wood" in the "wilderness of Ziph," in which David concealed himself (1 Samuel 23:15), which lay south-east of Hebron. In Isaiah 17:9 this word is in Authorized Version rendered incorrectly "bough." Heb. pardes, meaning an enclosed garden or plantation. Asaph is (Nehemiah 2:8) called the "keeper of the king's forest." The same Hebrew word is used Ecclesiastes 2:5, where it is rendered in the plural "orchards" (R.V., "parks"), and Song of Songs 4:13, rendered "orchard" (R.V. marg., "a paradise"). "The forest of the vintage" (Zechariah 11:2, "inaccessible forest," or R.V. "strong forest") is probably a figurative allusion to Jerusalem, or the verse may simply point to the devastation of the region referred to. The forest is an image of unfruitfulness as contrasted with a cultivated field (Isaiah 29:17; Isaiah 32:15; Jeremiah 26:18; Hosea 2:12). Isaiah (Isaiah 10:19, Isaiah 10:33, Isaiah 10:34) likens the Assyrian host under Sennacherib (q.v.) to the trees of some huge forest, to be suddenly cut down by an unseen stroke.