Home › Words › D › deforestdeforest/dɪˈfɒɹɪst/deforest means A surname from French, equivalent to English Forest or Woods, equivalent to the modern French surname Deforet.deforest is pronounced /dɪˈfɒɹɪst/.EtymologyRare French surname, from de (“from”) + forest. Compare Deforrest, Defrees, Defreest.nameA surname from French, equivalent to English Forest or Woods, equivalent to the modern French surname Deforet.A male given name transferred from the surname, equivalent to English Forest.verbTo clear (an area) of forest.To disafforest (remove legal status as forest).Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Words closest in meaningBy meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.deforester 81% match — One who clears an area of forest. vs deforest →deafforest 74% match — To change the status of (a forest) so that it is no longer legally regarded as forest land. vs deforest →deforested 73% match — Of or pertaining to deforestation. vs deforest →disforest 73% match — To disafforest vs deforest →disafforest 72% match — To deforest. vs deforest →deafforestation 68% match — The act of deafforesting; the withdrawal of forest status from a piece of land. vs deforest →delignate 66% match — To clear or strip of wood. vs deforest →clearcut 65% match — The area of the forest cleared of trees. vs deforest →