1800: widow and wood Nov 18, 2019

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Following yesterday's post on the gender of 'widow', it might be interesting to know that the word is also related to 'wood', with them both possibly coming from a meaning 'to separate'. However, 'wood' is still not related to the Dutch 'would', or German 'Wald' meaning 'forest', as you might expect. There will be more on 'wood' tomorrow.

Etymologies can be counterintuitive sometimes, so check out the 7 Tips for Etymologists video too.