Waldeinsamkeit

Waldeinsamkeit (German)

Abgeschiedenheit des Waldes

The feeling of solitude and peacefulness when alone in a forest.

In German, wald means “forest” and einsamkeit means “loneliness,” but waldeinsamkeit evokes a kind of happiness—a comforting and serene feeling, with perhaps a touch of melancholy. An archaic word, waldeinsamkeit has gained popularity since Covid, as more Germans head to the woods in pursuit of a transcendent experience.

Although it hasn’t been adopted into English, Waldeinsamkeit was the title of an 1858 poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson about experiencing nature, and the last stanza provides a lovely illustration of the word’s meaning.


Oblivion here thy wisdom is,
Thy thrift, the sleep of cares;
For a proud idleness like this
Crowns all thy mean affairs.

Those enjoying waldeinsamkeit might also consider this delightful and archaic English word: psithurism, “a whispering sound, as of wind among leaves.”

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Waldeinsamkeit
German
Etymology
From Wald (“forest”) +; Einsamkeit (“loneliness”), popularized by Ludwig Tieck and associated with German Romanticism.

Pronunciation
IPA(key): [;valt;a;;nza;mka;;t]
Audio (Germany (Berlin)):
Duration: 3 seconds.0:03
Noun
Waldeinsamkeit f (genitive Waldeinsamkeit, plural Waldeinsamkeiten)

(poetic, now uncommon) woodland solitude (the feeling of solitude in the woods)
Declension
Declension of Waldeinsamkeit [feminine]
Further reading
“Waldeinsamkeit” in Duden online