spinney

Etymology 1

From Middle English spenné, from Middle French espinoye (“thorny thicket”), espinaye, from Latin spīnētum (“thorny thicket”), from Latin spīna (“thorn”).

noun

1. (UK) A small copse or wood, especially one planted as a shelter for game birds.
   “H'm !" he said, "so, so — it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what … will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. […]” 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Lisson Grove Mystery

Etymology 2

Shortening

noun

1. Clipping of spinnaker.