To clear away forests or convert forest land into a different use, or to legally remove land from forest status.
From dis- (meaning to reverse or change) + afforest (to convert land to forest). The term appeared in medieval English when legal definitions of forest rights became important for land management.
Disafforest is the opposite of afforest, and it reveals how English legal language evolved during feudal times when controlling land use—especially who could hunt in forests—was a matter of power and survival.
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