Woodshocks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Bundles or stacks of cut firewood gathered together and set upright for drying or storage
2. Piles of chopped logs or sticks arranged in a heap, often left out to season before burning
3. Heaped groups of split timber, typically stood on end in the open to dry out before use

Etymology: "Woodshocks" is simply the plural of "woodshock," and the singular is the more interesting part. It is a name for the fisher, a weasel-like forest mammal, and its story runs through the languages of Indigenous peoples of North America. The name derives from a Cree term, "ocêk" or "otchek," meaning "fisher" or "marten," or from the related Ojibwe term "ojiig," meaning the same. English borrowed these words in forms such as "wejack," which was applied to the marten. The name then drifted. English speakers also reshaped the Indigenous word into "woodchuck," a term that was wrongly applied to the groundhog, a different animal altogether. "Woodshock" may itself be the source of "woodchuck," though this link is less certain.