afforestation

noun

af·​for·​es·​ta·​tion (ˌ)a-ˌfȯr-ə-ˈstā-shən How to pronounce afforestation (audio)
ə-,
-ˌfär-
: the act or process of establishing a forest especially on land not previously forested
afforest
a-ˈfȯr-əst How to pronounce afforestation (audio)
-ˈfär-
transitive verb

Examples of afforestation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Push to clean the rivers Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made cleaning the Ganges, India’s holiest river, a priority since first taking office in 2014 – with billions of dollars spent or pledged on sewage treatment, cleaning surface waste and afforestation in the decade since. Helen Regan, CNN, 25 Feb. 2025 The farm lobby has long been a vocal critic of the aggressive afforestation policy, calling it a threat to the beef, dairy, wool and sheepmeat that make up about 46% of the nation’s annual exports. Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 28 May 2024 To this end, there are global efforts to map potential areas for afforestation initiatives, but these efforts often identify grassland ecosystems as good candidates for afforestation, threatening more than one million square kilometers of grasslands in Africa, for example. Sutirtha Lahiri, Scientific American, 3 Mar. 2023 Ancolie Stoll tends to one such space called Nilatangam, a 7.5-hectare afforestation project started by her European parents when Auroville was first set up. Mahima Jain, WIRED, 18 Mar. 2023 See All Example Sentences for afforestation

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin afforestātiōn-, afforestātiō, from afforestāre "to convert into a forest" (from Latin ad- ad- + verbal derivative of Late Latin forestis "unenclosed woodland, forest entry 1") + Latin -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of afforestation was in 1598

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Afforestation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/afforestation. Accessed 9 Mar. 2025.

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