coppice
/ˈkɒpɪs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.17 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
verb
To manage (a wooded area) sustainably, as a coppice, by periodically cutting back woody plants to promote new growth.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "[…]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,[…]"
- "It was also enacted that all coppices or underwoods should be enclosed for periods from four to seven years after felling."
- "At the time of the Norman Conquest, any village with woodland had one or more coppices of about 80 acres. […] Coppice trees are periodically cut to a level just above the ground. […] Hazel forms most English coppices, but there are also coppices of alder, oak, wych elm and willow."
- "Her plan to coppice the woods should keep her self-sufficient in fuel indefinitely."
- "Few conifer species can coppice."
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”). Compare typologically Russian колок (kolok) (akin коло́ть (kolótʹ)).