thicket

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A dense group of bushes, shrubs, or small trees.

   We had to walk around a thicket that was too dense to pass through.

2. 2
   noun

   A confusing mass of many small, tangled things.

   He had to complete a thicket of paperwork before starting the job.

From Middle English *thikket, from Old English þiccet, from þicce (“thick”) + Old English nominal suffix -et. Compare similar German Dickicht (“thicket”), which is first attested in the 17th century, however. Compare typologically Bulgarian гъстак (gǎstak), Macedonian густеж (gustež), Czech houští, Polish gęstwina (< Proto-Slavic *gǫstъ); Latin dūmus (akin to dense).

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