Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FOR'EST, n. [It. foresta; Fr. forêt; Arm. forest; G. forst; Ir. foraois, foraighis; Norm. fores; from the same root as L. foris, Fr. hors, and the Sax. faran, to go, to depart, Hence the It. forestiere, Sp. forastero, signifies strange, foreign; It. foresto, wild, savage; Port. forasteiro, a stranger. This enables us to understand the radical meaning of other words which signify strange, wild, barbarous, &c. They all express distance from cities and civilization, and are from roots expressing departure or wandering.]

1. An extensive wood, or a large tract of land covered with trees. In America, the word is usually applied to a wood of native growth, or a tract of woodland which has never been cultivated. It differs from wood or woods chiefly in extent. We read of the Hercynian forest, in Germany, and the forest of Ardennes, in France or Gaul.
2. In law, in Great Britain, a certain territory of woody grounds and pastures, privileged for wild beasts and fowls of forest, chase and warren, to rest and abide in, under the protection of the king, for his pleasure. In this sense, the word has no application in America. Forest laws, laws for governing and regulating forests, and preserving game. England.