hedgerow

English

Etymology

From Middle English heggerowe, heggerewe, heggerawe, from Old English *heċġrāw, *heċġrǣw (attested only as Old English heġerǣwe, heġerēwe (“hedgerow”)), equivalent to hedge +‎ row.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛd͡ʒɹəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

hedgerow (plural hedgerows)

1. A row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge.

   Coordinate terms: fencerow; windbreak; shelterbelt

   • 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 91

     He had a suit of summer mufti, and a broad-brimmed blue beaver hat looped with leaves broken from the hedgerows in the lanes, and a Leander scarf tucked full of flowers: loosestrife, meadowrue, orchis, ragged-robin.

   • 1971, Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”:

     If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now, it's just a spring clean for the may queen

   • 2025 October 1, Dr Neil Strong, “Managing linesides”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 15:

     In fact, a railway lined with hedgerows and shrubs would be perfect for reliability and biodiversity. Hawthorn, for example, can take a good cut and grow back strongly, while still providing shelter for creatures and acting as a natural fence line.

Derived terms

• hedgerowed
• hedgerow jelly
• hedgerowless

Translations

a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge

• Catalan: tanca viva f, bardissa (ca) f
• Faroese: runnagirðing f
• Finnish: pensasaita (fi)
• French: haie (fr) f
• Galician: sebe (gl) f
• German: Hecke (de) f
• Plautdietsch: Hakj f
• Scottish Gaelic: callaid f
• Spanish: seto (es) m
• Swedish: häck (sv) c, buskrad c
• Welsh: gwrych (cy) m