An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wald

by Friedrich Kluge

Wald, masculine, ‘wood, forest,’ from the equivalent Middle High German walt (d), Old High German wald, neuter; corresponding to Old Saxon wald, Dutch would, Anglo-Saxon weald, English wold, Old Icelandic vǫllr, Gothic *walþus, masculine, ‘wood.’ Teutonic walþu-s, from which Old French gaut, ‘brushwood,’ is borrowed, points to pre-Teutonic waltus (waltwos?), to which Greek άλσος (for *ϝαλτϝος?) ‘grove,’ and Sanscrit vâṭa (from *valta), ‘garden, district,’ are probably related. The connection with wild is uncertain.