The Spanish word 'soto', meaning 'grove' or 'thicket', has an interesting journey from Latin roots. It comes from the Latin word 'saltus', which meant 'woodland' or 'forest'. 'Saltus' itself derived from the Latin verb 'salire', meaning 'to jump or leap' - possibly referring to the way animals would leap through wooded areas. This evolved through Proto-Romance *sautu, eventually becoming the modern Spanish 'soto'.

The semantic connection between 'jumping' and 'forest' might seem unusual at first, but it likely developed from the idea of untamed woodland areas where animals would jump or bound through the vegetation, or perhaps from the way forests and groves seem to 'jump up' from the surrounding landscape.

Some related Spanish words include 'saltar' (to jump), which comes from the same Latin root 'salire'. While 'soto' took the forest-related meaning from 'saltus', 'saltar' maintained the original jumping meaning. Another related word is 'asalto' (assault), which literally meant 'to jump at' in its origins.

English speakers might recognize the connection to words like 'assault', 'assail', and 'sally', which all come from the same Latin root 'salire' (to jump). While 'soto' developed to describe a wooded area, these English words maintained meanings related to jumping or rushing at something, usually in an aggressive manner.