Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A wild man of the woods; a satyr or faun. Representations of woodwoses often appear in heraldry as supporters.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A wild man of the woods; a faun, a satyr or a representation of such a being in heraldry or other decoration.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Late Old English wuduwāsa, also Middle English wodwo.

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Examples

  • He knew that to these men in their rich cloaks, their fine linen tunics, their wealth and ornaments, he must look like a beggar of the wilds, a woodwose or some strange thing out of the hill legends.

    Merlin's Mirror Norton, Andre 1975

  • more people know who the hamburgler is than emperor norton. this is your savage garden; this is my angel's gaol, my demiurge imbroglio. the i-ching reads 23 23 23, the coins spin 666 & i say again this savage garden i will slash & burn. stargazers will read of bad dreams in astrological morse code. here i come, custer, here come the woodwose people.

    mordicai: crown me king! mordicai 2003

  • Main areas of interest are cryptids reported in and around the British Isles (lake monsters, sea serpents, alien / native (yes native!) big cats and woodwose (hominids).

    Cryptomundo 2009

Comments

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  • King Charles VI of France and five of his courtiers were dressed as woodwoses and chained together for a mascarade at the tragic Bal des Sauvages (later known as the Bal des Ardents) at the Queen Mother's Paris hotel, January 28, 1393. In the midst of the festivities, a stray spark from a torch set their hairy costumes ablaze, burning several courtiers alive; the king's own life was saved through quick action by his aunt, the Duchesse de Berry, who smothered the flames in her cloak.

    May 8, 2009

  • Didn't anyone teach them "stop, drop, and roll"? Shameful, the education of monarchs in those days. *tsks*

    May 18, 2009

  • How could they roll if they were chained together...uh...Chained?

    May 20, 2009

  • Well... uh... obviously... they'd... have to... all do forward rolls at the exact same time. You know, like chained cannonballs.

    Or something. *whistles*

    May 20, 2009

  • Isn't it curious that when we say that someone was burned alive we mean that they died.

    May 20, 2009

  • Saved by rolig's deft change of subject! ;-)

    May 20, 2009

  • I guess it's curious, in a sense, but I've always read that phrase as in opposition to having the remains burned after death, which is rather more commonplace.

    May 20, 2009

  • I see your point, but still, it's curious that "burned alive" = "burned to death".

    May 20, 2009

  • Yes, it's true.

    Still, you'd think their hairy costumes would've at least used fire-retardant hair, or something.

    May 20, 2009

  • Silly courtiers.

    May 20, 2009

  • 'Alive' here is depictive (as in 'ran around naked', 'turned up to work drunk', 'ate the meat raw') and is in contrast to a resultative complement ('shot them dead', 'hammered it flat', 'painted it blue').

    May 21, 2009

  • ... I love when qroqqa comments on things. *gleeful*

    May 21, 2009

  • Resultative 'alive' in 'the statue came alive'.

    May 21, 2009

  • I was gonna say 'Frampton Comes Alive!' but now I'm embarassed.

    May 21, 2009

  • France may have had a king who dressed up as a woodwose, but we elected Woodwose Wilson president! This makes us better than the French.

    May 21, 2009

  • @ Ptero, thanks for the chuckle. There was always something a little eerie about Mr. Wilson.

    @ Qroqqa: so if a wizard's magic involved torching a statue to bring it to life, we could say: He burned the statue alive. Interesting.

    @ Bilby, I'll keep my thoughts to myself about that.

    May 21, 2009

  • ... I love when ptero comments on things. *gleeful*

    May 21, 2009

  • WOW-thats like my new word now thanks to these commints

    May 23, 2009