wold
丘陵地
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
wold は文学的・古風な語で、特に英国の地名や the Yorkshire Wolds のような表現に現れる、広く開けた高い丘陵地を指す。語源的には weald やドイツ語 Wald「森」と結び付くが、現代の語義では森より木の少ない起伏ある高地を思い浮かべる。日常語なら upland や rolling hills が自然。
Picture a broad, exposed stretch of rolling high ground rather than a single steep hill. Wold is now uncommon in everyday conversation, but it survives in literary descriptions and British regional names such as “the Yorkshire Wolds.” Its history connects it with weald and German Wald, words associated with woodland, even though the later English sense often describes open and relatively treeless uplands. Learn the contrast: woodland emphasizes trees, while a wold emphasizes elevated, sweeping countryside. In ordinary modern speech, upland, rolling hills, or open country will often sound more natural.
wold の類義語・関連語
wold の語源・成り立ち Etymology
woldは古英語wald・weald「森のある高地」に由来し、さらにゲルマン祖語を経て印欧祖語の「森・野」を表す語根にさかのぼります。関連語にweald、ドイツ語Waldがあり、もとは森林地帯だった語が、木のない丘陵地を指すように変わったのが面白い点です。
Wold descends from Old English forms including weald and wald, which referred to wooded country, forest, or high ground. These forms belong to a Germanic word family represented by English weald and German Wald, “forest.” Over time, the English regional meaning shifted from wooded upland toward open, rolling, and often treeless high country. The word became especially associated with certain chalk or limestone landscapes in England and now survives most visibly in regional names using the plural Wolds.
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