afforest

First attested in the 16th century. From Medieval Latin afforēstō, from Latin ad (“towards”) + forēsta (“forest”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈfɒɹɪst/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈfɔɹɪst/, /əˈfɒɹɪst/

afforest (third-person singular simple present afforests, present participle afforesting, simple past and past participle afforested)

1. (transitive) To make into forest

   After we leave the quarry, we intend to afforest the land and turn it into a nature reserve.

   • 1901 June 7, G. H. Davies, “Rain-making”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record‎, volume 4, number 7, page 195:

     It is probably impossible to afforest quickly any real desert.

"Afforest" once connoted bringing woodland under forest law in order to provide hunting grounds. However today the verb is more likely to connote commercial exploitation.

• (to make into forest): forest

• (antonym(s) of “to make into forest”): deafforest, deforest

• 2005, Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, The Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd edition revised), Oxford University Press, →ISBN
• 1996, T.F. Hoad, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Etymology, Oxford University Press, →ISBN
• “Afforest, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1989.
• “afforest”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.