Sponsor |  rumisong | Sep 14, 2007 2:06pm | Yes, I think if there isnt a word, there ought to be ... but I could just swear there is ... "glen"? ... no, that again, is the valley that is looked out upon ...
Annie, the half in half out thing is funny to see - I was in google-images looking for just the right pic which would show this thing I have in my mind ... I couldnt really find it though* ... but what I did discover, was that any image that looked "out" of the woods, didnt really have enough of the woods to show the effect of the "opening" ... and any image that looked AT the woods ... well ... was just too boring an image to take a picture of ... so no one really did, it seems ... but just after my search, noticing this "half of them as 'in', half of them as 'out'" thing, then I saw your post ...
pinklu, yes, the edge is certainly where this opening would be found ... but the word in question is about the opening AT the edge, not just any part of the edge ... but rather, where there is a natural or man-made (is there a dif, ecologically, really?) break to the treeline, which affords a view of the 'sylvan plain' ...
dang nab it ... Itll come to me ... one of these days ...
*you know what is the image of this that is still in my brain after all these years? - Imagine an illustration for a childs book that would depict an aboriginal people of the forest, looking out of the forest at a ship, or an encampment of European settlers, lets say ... the illustrator would manage to show the darkened environ of the forest itself - but they would have to be back from the opening far enough, that we would see something like an archway of vegitation ... with the daylight from over the field pouring through ... the people would be able to stand up, so its not just a rabbit sized opening ... but more person sized or deer sized lets say - or larger ...
well this word would describe that "archway" as well as the "fan" of sparser wood-space that comes upon it, from the darkened wood side of the area ...
now, I dare you all to find the ideal image of this ... hehehe...
its got me 'going' now ... |
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Sponsor | | lesoldham | Sep 14, 2007 3:01pm | Main Entry: vis·ta
Pronunciation: 'vis-t&
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian, sight, from visto, past participle of vedere to see, from Latin vidEre -- more at WIT
1 : a distant view through or along an avenue or opening : PROSPECT
closer but still does not suggest a forest setting. |
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|  pinklu | Sep 14, 2007 4:05pm | Another boring word from the same reference I quoted in 8.
"Though Wisconsin has an abundance of edge,
primarily associated with agriculture,
timber harvesting and urban development,
much of it can be improved to attract more
of these types of animals. Woodland
openings provide food and cover, while
trails, fencerows, hedgerows, field borders,
roadsides and pocket habitat provide places
for wildlife to take cover, nest and travel."
Here it mentions "woodland openings" - how boring is that?
Don't worry rumisong, this word will be found!!!
And I do get your imagery what you expect from the word. |
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|  |  3559018 | Sep 14, 2007 4:18pm | How about cut, rent, bower? Try this exercise: define this word - tree. Include everything it is, and nothing it isn't.
Select your own words to define; the simpler the better (or harder).
(the exercise is a good way to limber up the mental muscles) |
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| | pinklu | Sep 14, 2007 4:40pm |
Did a thesaurus check on "opening", and maybe "aperture" is the closest word. Though it is still not a specific word for that elusive "opening at the edge of a forest that looks out over a field, marsh, or other clearing" |
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Sponsor | | rumisong | Sep 14, 2007 5:52pm | you guys are great fun to be helping me like this ...
Vista, yes - thought of that one too ... it is close in its intent, but not really the woodsy part as you say ...
I dont want to confuse the issue, so I havent mentioned - but a much fuzzier part of my memory in this is that this word had a more common useage ... Maybe as a description of a part of ones personality? no- not that I dont think ... this bit is real fuzzy - like Im only 5-10% sure of this ... OR, that it was used as a place name ... like "glen" would be ... or sylvania as in the state Pennsylvania ... thats why my brain keeps going there ...
not savannah ... these are all the clearings themselves, that we're finding...
no, dont get sidetracked with the "placename" thing ... I dont think thats it ...
the "personality" thing, a bit more likely ... like a feeling that one might get, to be similar to what this is ... the "ahaa" moment of coming upon the clearing? ... maybe, I have this question reversed, and the forest opening is the secondary meaning or the root? and the main way we see the word today is the "feeling" thing??? ... oh, so fuzzy ...
can you beleive this is a high school memory? ... why did this, of all things, stick in the "way back there" of my brain?
If only I could come upon some clearing? eh? :D
oh, I just did an etymonline for Bower ... love that word now :) "a ladies boudoir" eh? ... nice :) ... where is Jack Baur? |
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Sponsor | | rumisong | Sep 15, 2007 6:03am | hey MJB ...
nope, it wasnt that one - but this thread is a fun vocab builder now :) thanks - Im compelled to look up all of these - that is such a thing of mine ... and I do love etymologies ... the etymonline site is on my quicksearch, and I use it more than I do dictionary.com ...
you know what word came to me that was completely off the mark, but it had the "flavor" to me, as the word Im fuzzily trying to remember?
"swell" ...
it is a great word itself - and Im now wondering if, in the same way that it means a rising bit of ocean (wave) ... and also to "swell with pride" or "I feel swell" ...
I think my word might have a similar feel and relationship ... does that make sense? ... it may have a similar relationship to nature and everyday life ... and it would have a root that went through northern Europe first, and did not come directly from Latin or Greek
of course we all must categorize words differently - just as we treat Ice cream flavors differently, yes? so I may have just confused the situation saying that :) |
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Sponsor | | pseudonym | Sep 17, 2007 6:48pm | I hope you find your word; I've looked for it, thought about it for a time (longer than I originally anticipated), but have come up empty-handed searching for your elusive word. I do agree with you that the thread is a "fun vocab builder" nonetheless.
When I come upon a field or clearing, just leaving a forest or wooded area, it's always at the end of some beaten path--or, at least, that's what I try to follow. The path may have been created by human wear or that of some animal. If created by a large animal such as a deer, the opening is called a "slot;" if by a smaller one, a fox perhaps, it's called a "spoor." Regardless of its creator, it's simply the terminus of some path or trail, isn't it? A trailend or trailsend, perhaps; the start of it being the trailhead.
That's all I have to offer; hope it helps or spurs others on to find your word. Good luck with the hunt! :-) |
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|  npftm | Sep 17, 2007 8:31pm | Was it misuse of either 'weald' or 'wold'?
Relevancy in terms of Northern Europe and trees is absolute... worth a try :) |
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