"Ere long, the children arrived at a wood."

[Damaged Goods]

In days of old, or so I've been told, a stand of trees was a "wood."

Today, of course, "woods" is proper in reference to a stand of trees. "The kiddos are playing in the woods behind the baseball diamond." "Woods serve as a noise and sight barrier between the Smith's residence and the highway."

So there!

 

[Kaila]

That is quite interesting, that it used to be singular, where we presently use plural.

The wood was apparently one single collection or grouping or location, consisting of multiple trees, perhaps many trees, as well as included the undergrowth that accompanies them.

Now, we always use plural, simply because there's more than one tree included?