coppice

coppice

English

WOTD – 31 July 2012

A recently coppiced alder.

Alternative forms

• coppis (obsolete)

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɒpɪs/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

coppice (plural coppices)

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.
   • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict‎:

     […] 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, […]

   • 1957, Schubert, H.R. History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, p216:

     It was also enacted that all coppices or underwoods should be enclosed for periods from four to seven years after felling.

Synonyms

• copse

Derived terms

• coppice mining bee
• copse

Translations

grove of small growth

Bulgarian: гъсталак (bg) m (gǎstalak), шубрак (bg) m (šubrak) Chinese: Mandarin: 萌芽更新 (méngyá gēngxīn) Czech: mlází n, houština f, podrost (cs) m Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: hakhout (nl) n Finnish: vesakko (fi), pensaikko (fi) French: taillis (fr) m, boqueteau (fr) m German: Stockausschlag Hungarian: sarjerdő Italian: bosco ceduo (it) m Japanese: 萌芽更新 (ほうがこうしん, hōgakōshin / ぼうがこうしん, bōgakōshin) Macedonian: ко́парок m (kóparok) Polish: zagajnik (pl) m, lasek (pl) m Portuguese: mata de talhadia f Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: ро́щица (ru) f (róščica), лесо́к (ru) m (lesók) Scottish Gaelic: preasarlach m Serbo-Croatian: šibik m, šibljak (sh) m, čestar (sh) m, gustiš (sh) m Spanish: bosquecillo Swedish: skottskog

Verb

coppice (third-person singular simple present coppices, present participle coppicing, simple past and past participle coppiced)

1. (transitive) To manage (a wooded area) sustainably, as a coppice, by periodically cutting back woody plants to promote new growth.

   Her plan to coppice the woods should keep her self-sufficient in fuel indefinitely.

2. (intransitive) To sprout from the stump.

   Few conifer species can coppice.

Derived terms

• coppicer
• recoppice

Translations

manage a wooded area as a coppice

Czech: prořezat, prořezávat Scottish Gaelic: dèan preasarlach

sprout from the stump

French: rejeter de souche (fr)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “coppice”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. [see also its linking entry coup]