Wood and would are two words that are pronounced in the same manner but are spelled differently and have different meanings, which makes them homophones. We will examine the definitions of wood and would, where these words came from and some examples of their use in sentences.
Wood is the hard material that makes up the trunk of a tree and its branches or the limbs of a shrub. Wood is used as fuel and as a building or decorative material. Wood is also a term for a certain type of golf club as well as a a piece of land that is covered in trees and is smaller than a forest. Usually, wood is treated as a mass noun, which is a noun that is impossible to count and does not have a plural form. However there are certain instance where the plural form woods is used. For instance, woods is often used, particularly in America, when referring to a piece of land that is covered in trees and is smaller than a forest. Woods is also used when referring to more than one type of wood, such as ebony, oak or pine. The word wood is derived from the Old English word wudu which means a grove, forest, or trees.
Would is the past tense of will. Would is used to signify something conditional, a consequence that might happen if certain events occur. Would may express hope, desire, or a polite request. Related words are will, willing. The word would is derived from the Old English word wolde, past tense of the Old English word willan.
Examples
According to Gehl, China’s enormous wood manufacturing industry is extremely complex, with many thousands of companies, from mom-and-pop sawmills to multimillion-dollar log importers and even larger manufacturers of wood products. (National Geographic Magazine)
The 83-year-old victim, a married father-of-two, was found dead by another walker in the woods bordering heathland near East Harling, Norfolk. (The Times)
The most likely killing mechanism in all three cases is heat and radiation—particularly the boiling away of the planet’s oceans, which would exterminate all surface and underwater life. (Smithsonian Magazine)