old-growth
|old-growth|
🇺🇸
/ˌoʊldˈɡroʊθ/
🇬🇧
/ˌəʊldˈɡrəʊθ/
long-established, undisturbed natural growth (especially forest)
Etymology
'old-growth' originates from Modern English, specifically a compound of the words 'old' and 'growth', where 'old' comes from Old English 'eald' (meaning 'aged, old') and 'growth' comes from Old English 'growþ' (derived from the verb 'growan', meaning 'to grow').
'old' developed from Old English 'eald' (related to Proto-Germanic *aldaz), while 'growth' developed from Old English 'growþ' (from the verb 'growan'). The modern compound 'old-growth' arose in Modern English to describe natural, long-established growth, especially of forests, gaining currency in the 19th–20th centuries as ecological and forestry sciences developed.
Initially the component words meant 'aged' and 'the act/state of growing.' Over time the compound came to mean specifically 'long-established, largely undisturbed natural growth' and, by extension, forests that exhibit these characteristics.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a forest (or area of forest) that is old-growth: having attained great age without significant disturbance and therefore exhibiting complex ecological structure and high biodiversity.
Conservationists argued that the park should protect the remaining patches of old-growth.
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Adjective 1
describing forests, timber, or ecosystems that have developed naturally over a very long period without significant human disturbance and that show mature structural characteristics (large old trees, multilayered canopy, dead wood).
Old-growth forests provide habitat for many species that cannot live in younger, managed woods.
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Last updated: 2025/09/14 20:55