Coppice
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A grove of small growth; a thicket of brushwood; a wood cut at certain times for fuel or other purposes, typically managed to promote growth and ensure a reliable supply of timber. See copse.
"[…]belts of thin white mist streaked the brown plough land in the hollow where Appleby could see the pale shine of a winding river. Across that in turn, meadow and coppice rolled away past the white walls of a village bowered in orchards,[…]"
- 2 a dense growth of bushes wordnet
- 1 To manage (a wooded area) sustainably, as a coppice, by periodically cutting back woody plants to promote new growth. transitive
"Her plan to coppice the woods should keep her self-sufficient in fuel indefinitely."
- 2 To sprout from the stump. intransitive
"Few conifer species can coppice."
Example
More examples"[…]belts of thin white mist streaked the brown plough land in the hollow where Appleby could see the pale shine of a winding river. Across that in turn, meadow and coppice rolled away past the white walls of a village bowered in orchards,[…]"
Etymology
From Middle English copies, from Old French copeiz (“a cut-over forest”), from presumed Vulgar Latin *colpaticium (“having the quality of being cut”), from *colpāre (“to cut, strike”), from *colpus (“a blow”), from Latin colaphus (“a cuff, box on the ear”), from Ancient Greek κόλαφος (kólaphos, “a blow, slap”).