Spyke

Syndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.

View original on lemmy.world

39 replies

A copse, as the name suggests, is a stand of trees that have been deliberately coppiced (ie, repeatedly cut near the base so that the rootstock remains alive and generates fresh branches at ground level).

A better term might be the more generic "stand".

2
lemmy.world

It would depend exactly how big/substantial this 'gathering' is, but I could imagine that "Grove", "Stand" or "Thicket" might be appropriate.

They aren't exclusive to your definition, but could be applicable.

51
slrpnk.net

Came here for grove.

One of the surnames on my mom's side of the family means "grove of trees near a bog" and comes from the same area as my best friend's surname that means "evil bog goblin"

I like to think that his family was evil bog spirits, and my family were good tree people, and he and I have mended the feud.

This has nothing to do with OP's question, I just thought of it when grove came up, and thought I'd share.

19
ArtieShawreply
fedia.io

I think I need to add both of these words to my vocabulary.

5

I’ve been known to drop a “hobgoblin” into my repertoire on special occasions 💅

1

This is awesome. Mind sharing what the two names are? Especially evil bog goblin, wow.

2

Grove and thicket are the only two I've ever actually heard. I'd go with grove.

6

I’ve always used grove, but wonder if that’s species dependent.

1

I agree with others saying copse, as being my first thought as well, but I'm really commenting to say I love the imagery the description, "a gathering of trees" produces.

26

Yeah, it makes it sound like the trees are getting together because they're planning something - improving the world maybe.

12
AmidFurorreply
fedia.io

The only reply which takes the "gathering" aspect into account. But wouldn't Ents tell you they are not trees? Still, we don't have to cede to their demands here.

5
lemmy.world

Let them present themselves and their objections to being called trees and I will listen.

4

I appreciate that you're asking us instead of asking the trees directly and, thus, waking them.

20

Totally pointless tangent: looking up "copse" on the Galnet translation dictionary (free, offline, fdroid) the Deutsch word is dickicht

...totally appropriate loanword to steal IMO. Adventure... linguistically!

12

Etymology:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/thicket#etymonline_v_10751

thicket (n.)

"close-set growth of shrubs, bushes, trees, etc.; tangled coppice or grove," late Old English þiccet, from þicce in the sense of "dense, growing close together" (see thick (adj.)) + denominative suffix -et. Absent in Middle English, reappearing early 16c., perhaps a dialectal survival or a re-formation.

2

Spinney is a nice word for a smallish gathering of trees, alongside copse, coppice, etc. I'm not aware of a term for one specifically in an open field, though.

7
programming.dev

What do you call a circle of trees in an open field with one evil tree in the middle, but not quite in the center?

5

A fairy teleportation portal. It's the upgraded version of a circle of mushrooms.
To not be confused with a circle of 4-leaf clovers, which is the treasury entrance to a leprechaun's pot of gold.

3

You reached the end