Standard Lemma guide

wold

adj · name · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /wəʊld/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /wəʊld/
  • Received-Pronunciation: [wɒʊɫd]
  • Received-Pronunciation: /wɒld/ doll–dole merger
  • British, Southern, Standard: /wəwld/
  • British, Southern, Standard: [wɔwɫd]
  • British, Southern, Standard: /wɔld/ doll–dole merger
  • Canada, General-American: /woʊld/
  • Australian: /wəʉld/
  • Australian: [wɔʉɫd]
  • Australian: /wɔld/ doll–dole merger
  • New-Zealand: /waʉld/
  • New-Zealand: [wɔʉɫd]
  • New-Zealand: /wɔld/ doll–dole merger
  • Scotland: /wold/
  • Wales: /would/ without the toe–tow merger
  • rhymes with -əʊld
  • CMU ARPABET: W OW1 L D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Old.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Devon, West-Country, archaic, dialectal

Qualifier: Dorset

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An unforested or deforested plain, a grassland, a moor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, regional

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A wood or forest, especially a wooded upland.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a tract of open rolling country (especially upland)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: country, rural area

History

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English wolde.

* As a Norwegian surname, spelling variant of Vold, Voll. * As an English surname, from wold (“forest”).

From Middle English wald, walde, weld, welde, wold, wolde, woolde, wæld, from Old English wald, weald, from Proto-West Germanic *walþu, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz (“forest”), possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to perceive, see”) or *welH- (“to roll, undulate”). Largely displaced by forest. Cognates Compare North Frisian wald, walt (“forest”), Saterland Frisian Woold (“forest”), West Frisian wâld (“forest”), Alemannic German and German Wald (“forest, woods”), Bavarian Woid (“forest, woods”), Cimbrian balt (“forest, woods”), Dutch woud (“forest, woods”), Low German Woold, Woolt (“forest”), Luxembourgish Wal (“forest”), Mòcheno bòlt (“wood, woodland”), Yiddish וואַלד (vald, “forest”), Danish val (“plain”), vold (“field, meadow”), Faroese vøllur (“lawn; field”), Icelandic völlur (“lawn; field”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk voll (“meadow”), Swedish vall (“field, pasture”); also Hittite 𒌑𒂊𒂖𒇻𒍑 (ú-e-el-lu-uš, “meadow, pasture”). See also wald, weald, ultimately of the same origin.