grove

Etymology

From Middle English grove, grave, from Old English grāf, grāfa (“grove; copse”), possibly from Proto-West Germanic *graib, *graibō (“branch, group of branches, thicket”), from Proto-Germanic *graibaz, *graibô (“branch, fork”);.; from the same Proto-Indo-European root is also Irish craobh (“bough, branch”). Related to Old English grǣf, grǣfe (“brushwood; thicket; copse”), Old English grǣfa (“thicket”), dialectal Norwegian greive (“ram with splayed horns”), dialectal Norwegian greivlar (“ramifications of an antler”), dialectal Norwegian grivla (“to branch, branch out”), Old Norse grein (“twig, branch, limb”). More at greave.

noun

1. A small forest.
   Religious sodomy was practised by male prostitutes in the Hebrew temple groves, which was one of the abominations of Israel that Josiah cleared away. 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 160
2. An orchard of fruit trees.
3. (Druidism, Wicca) A place of worship.
4. A lodge of the Ancient Order of Druids.

verb

1. To cultivate in groves; to grow naturally so as to form groves.
   It is called "Orchard Lake," from the fact, that near the centre is an island embracing an area of about fifty acres of land, well groved with different kinds of shrubbery; and near the centre of this island stand a number of aged apple-trees, planted, perhaps, a century since by the hand of some Indian. 1841, Sapp R, “Orchard Lake”, in L. L. Hamline, editor, The Ladies Repository, Volume 1, page 165
   The trees and shrubs are not arranged after any particular system, but are scattered or groved together in various parts of the garden. 1822, Robert Chapman, The Topographical Picture of Glasgow in its Ancient and Modern State, 3rd edition, page 195
   1984, Queensland Botany Bulletin, Issue 3, Department of Primary Industries, page 82, Virtually recognizable groving occurs in some A. aneura associations in the west. Further east some diffuse groving may occur, but is difficult to recognize without the benefit of aerial photographs.
2. (forestry, of trees) To cultivate with periodic harvesting that also serves to create order (gaps and lines of trees) to facilitate further harvesting.
   In Herefordshire, especially on the northern and eastern sides, Oak timber abounds; and in many of the woods it is usual to have felling at periods varying from sixteen to twenty years; the straightest and handsomest are left for timber, or, as it is called, groved; and they are from time to time thinned, and a regular distance kept between them. The effect produced on these groved trees is, that from being exposed to air and sun, the rapidity of their growth is increased in bulk, height, and quality; and in sixty or eighty years they become valuable timber. February 5 1842, The Gardeners Chronicle, page 86
3. To plough or gouge with lines.
   1823, Instinct, in "Sholto and Reuben Percy" (Thomas Byerley), The Percy Anecdotes: Original and Select, Volume 9: Instinct—Ingenuity, page 138, Very frequently, however, to shorten the distance to the upper nurseries, where they have to take the eggs, they project an arch of about ten inches in length, and half an inch in breadth, groved or worked into steps, on its upper surface, to allow of a more easy passage.
   The floor of first story and piazza to be laid with Georgia pine, in narrow courses planed, groved and tongued, and laid in the best manner. 1841, New York State Assembly, Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, volume 2, page 14