Woody comes from Old English wudiġ ('wooded'), from wudu ('wood, forest') + -ig (-y), of Germanic origin. In current use it is an adjective meaning "consisting of or resembling wood, or covered with trees". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. A central historical form is Old English wudu. Related English forms include wood, woods, woodland, and woodsy. A derived form is woodiness. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning.