*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of woody

From Middle English woodi, wody, wodi, equivalent to wood + -y.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
adj

Covered in woods; wooded. · Consisting of wood; resembling wood in appearance or texture. · Belonging to the woods; sylvan. · Non-herbaceous.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English woodi, wody, wodi, equivalent to wood + -y.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionwoodienm

This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "woodi"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English woodi"
    },
    {
      "name": "suf",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "wood",
        "3": "y",
        "id2": "adjectival"
      },
      "expansion": "wood + -y"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "woodi",
      "woodi#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "wody",
      "wody#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "wodi",
      "wodi#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "wood",
      "wood#English"
    ],
    [
      "-y",
      "-y#English:_adjectival"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Covered in woods; wooded.",
        "Consisting of wood; resembling wood in appearance or texture.",
        "Belonging to the woods; sylvan.",
        "Non-herbaceous."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "recordId": "6f6c7d8ca4bd280feb543add61c2505ef8d866efec5ff7446f921b28662031fc",
      "rawRecordSha256": "26ccae518631f2c870e1fd4c80e741f70fa24fa16a81c5eebe62c8cf66582813",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 262343
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 1,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

Alternative form of woodie. · A compact wooden climbing wall used for board climbing. · An erect penis.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-us Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)wéydʰ(h₁)us Proto-Germanic *widuz Proto-West Germanic *widu Old English widu Old English wudu Middle English wode English wood Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English woody From wood + -y (diminutive suffix).

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "wood",
        "4": "-y<pos:diminutive suffix><id:diminutive>",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *dwóh₁\nProto-Indo-European *dwi-\nProto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *-us\nProto-Indo-European *(h₁)wéydʰ(h₁)us\nProto-Germanic *widuz\nProto-West Germanic *widu\nOld English widu\nOld English wudu\nMiddle English wode\nEnglish wood\nProto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij-\nProto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī\nOld English -iġ\nMiddle English -y\nEnglish -y\nEnglish woody\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*widuz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*widu\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"widu\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wudu\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"wode\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"wood\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }, { \"id\" : \"diminutive\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"diminutive\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"diminutive\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*-i, *-ī\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*-j-, *-ij-\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-j-\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-i\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"-iġ\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-y\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-y\", \"lang\" : \"en\", \"pos\" : \"diminutive suffix\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"woody\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"woody\">\nFrom wood + -y (diminutive suffix)."
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "wood",
        "4": "-y<pos:diminutive suffix><id:diminutive>",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *dwóh₁\nProto-Indo-European *dwi-\nProto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *-us\nProto-Indo-European *(h₁)wéydʰ(h₁)us\nProto-Germanic *widuz\nProto-West Germanic *widu\nOld English widu\nOld English wudu\nMiddle English wode\nEnglish wood\nProto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij-\nProto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī\nOld English -iġ\nMiddle English -y\nEnglish -y\nEnglish woody\nFrom wood + -y (diminutive suffix)."
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*dwóh₁",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dwóh₁#Proto-Indo-European:_two"
    ],
    [
      "*dwi-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dwi-#Proto-Indo-European:_two"
    ],
    [
      "*dʰeh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰeh₁-#Proto-Indo-European:_do"
    ],
    [
      "*h₁weydʰh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₁weydʰh₁-"
    ],
    [
      "*-us",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-us"
    ],
    [
      "*(h₁)wéydʰ(h₁)us",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/(h₁)wéydʰ(h₁)us"
    ],
    [
      "*widuz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/widuz"
    ],
    [
      "*widu",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/widu"
    ],
    [
      "widu",
      "widu#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "wudu",
      "wudu#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "wode",
      "wode#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "wood",
      "wood#English"
    ],
    [
      "*-j-, *-ij-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-j-"
    ],
    [
      "*-i, *-ī",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-i"
    ],
    [
      "-iġ",
      "-ig#Old_English:_diminutive"
    ],
    [
      "-y",
      "-y#Middle_English:_diminutive"
    ],
    [
      "-y",
      "-y#English:_diminutive"
    ],
    [
      "wood",
      "wood#English"
    ],
    [
      "-y",
      "-y#English:_diminutive"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of woodie.",
        "A compact wooden climbing wall used for board climbing.",
        "An erect penis."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative",
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "recordId": "c505bc335b606455b2a66aeb1b06b4428b94107821f404da6be6ed8bee5f740c",
      "rawRecordSha256": "bfa44aa8f29d6141efc1613fdbd9a8ac0f5af1953e3689c59208d0696b917d31",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 262344
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for woody →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-d29vZHk