Old English holt "woods," common in place names, from Proto-Germanic *hultam- (cognates: Old Frisian, Old Norse, Middle Dutch holt, Dutch hout, German Holz "wood"), from PIE *kldo- (cognates: Old Church Slavonic klada "beam, timber," Greek klados "twig," Old Irish caill "wood"), from root *kel- (1) "to strike, cut."