sylvan
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sĭl'vən
ipa: /ˈsɪl.vən/
rhymes: -ɪlvən
Forms: form: sylvans
Etymology: Borrowed from Medieval Latin sylvanus, possibly via Middle French sylvain, from Latin silvanus, cognate with Latin Silvānus (“Roman god of the woods”), from silva (“forest”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *swel- (“beam, board, frame, threshold”). The ⟨y⟩ in sylvanus and its descendants is due to influence from Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē, “wood, matter”), transliterated in the Latin style as hyle. Analysable as sylva (“silva”) + -an.
Senses: examples: text: [H]e hurried to a masquerade-warehouse in Westminster, where he selected the garb of a sylvan, or a man of the woods, together with a guitar, which he entrusted to a porter, bidding him accompany then to St. James's Park. / "But what connexion is there between a sylvan and a French song accompanied by the guitar?" asked Jocelyn, as they paced rapidly along. / "None whatever," replied his companion, "and, therefore, the better for our purpose. The King has long lost taste for that which is appropriate: to be pleased he must be surprised, and this can only be effected by some absurdity; the more preposterous the more likely to succeed."
ref: 1826, [Horace Smith], chapter III, in Brambletye House; or, Cavaliers and Roundheads. A Novel. … In Three Volumes, volume II, Boston, Mass.: Wells and Lilly—State Street, →OCLC, pages 80–81:
glosses: One who resides in the woods.
examples: text: And ſeeing it is ſo generall a report, and ſo many auerre it eyther from their owne triall or from others, that are of indubitable honeſtie and credite, that the Syluanes and Fawnes, commonly called Incubi, haue often iniured women, deſiring and acting carnally with them: […]
ref: 1610, Saint Augustine, “Whether It be Credible that the Angels being of an Incorporeall Nature, should Lust after the Women of the Earth, and Marrying Them, Beget Gyants of Them. Chap. 23.”, in J[ohn] H[ealey], transl., St. Augustine, of the Citie of God: […], [London]: […] George Eld, →OCLC, book XV, page 561:
text: 214. A Revel and Sacrifice to Pan. The frequent repetition of these subjects shows how deeply the artist's mind was imbued with the love of sylvan rites and ceremonies, characteristic of the fabled golden age, when "In wanton dance they praise the bounteous Pan." […] [N]ear to her are a nymph and a faun sitting together; the attention of the former is at the moment attracted by a sylvan, who is dragging a goat by the leg; […]
ref: 1837, John Smith, “The Works of Nicolas Poussin”, in A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters; in which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Discussion of Their Principal Pictures; a Statement of the Prices at which such Pictures have been Sold at Public Sales on the Continent and in England; a Reference to the Galleries and Private Collections, in which a Large Portion are at Present; and the Names of the Artists by whom They have been Engraved: To which is Added, a Brief Notice of the Scholars & Imitators of the Great Masters of the above Schools, 8th part, London: Published by Smith & Son, 137, New Bond Street, →OCLC, page 113:
text: Her private orchards, walled on every side, / To lawless sylvans all access denied. / How oft the satyrs and the wanton fawns, / Who haunt the forests, or frequent the lawns, / The god whose ensign scares the birds of prey, / And old Silenus, youthful in decay, / Employed their wiles and unavailing care / To pass the fences, and surprise the fair!
ref: 1847, Alexander Pope, “Vertuminus and Pomona. From the Fourteenth Book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.”, in The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, new edition, London: H[enry] G[eorge] Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden, pages 277–278, lines 19–26:
text: The sylvans who guarded the palace were bearded buffoons, lazy and stupid but fierce. Without the help of the Silenus, prefect of the satyrs, the cocky satyrs may have fought with the sylvans.
ref: 1976, Jane Krier, The English Masque: Vanished Court Drama (unpublished M.A. dissertation), Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin, →OCLC, page 64:
topics: human-sciences
mysticism
mythology
philosophy
sciences
glosses: A fabled deity of the wood; a faun, a satyr.