sylvan
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: human-sciences
mysticism
mythology
philosophy
sciences
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.
Base: sylva
Affixes: -an
Inflected forms:
form: more sylvan
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most sylvan
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: silvan
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: sylvans
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Pertaining to the forest, or woodlands.
pos: adj
examples: Broke by the jutting Land, on either ſide: / In double Streams the briny Waters glide. / Betwixt two rows of Rocks, a Sylvan Scene / Appears above, and Groves for ever green: […]
A little cabinet stood beside, with some of its shuttles and drawers open, displaying hawks-bells, dog-whistles, instruments for trimming a falcon's feathers, bridle-bits of various constructions, and other trifles connected with sylvan sport.
[T]he traditional memory of a rural and a sylvan region, such as Warwickshire at that time was, is usually exact as well as tenacious; and, with respect to [William] Shakespeare in particular, we may presume it to have been full and circumstantial through the generation succeeding to his own, not only from the curiosity, and perhaps something of a scandalous interest, which would pursue the motions of one living so large a part of his life at a distance from his wife, but also from the final reverence and honor which would settle upon the memory of a poet so preëminently successful; […]
We were now within the boundaries of Minnesota, and this prairie was yet the habitation of Wapasha (Red Leaf) and his Sioux band. I never beheld a more charming silvan picture than this prairie presented; […]
The particular trees may have been cut down long ago and forgotten; but the name survives to perpetuate its sylvan history. There may be no more a wood of Limes at Lyndhurst, there may be no Oaks at Oakville, Elms at Elmley, or Ashes at Ashton; but still the names will always suggest—at least—a probability of sylvan origin.
Over the course of the nineteenth century, an entity known as the 'German forest' arose out of Central Europe's sylvan diversity.
gloss: Residing in a forest or wood.
pos: adj
examples: Now, my Sacontalá, you are becomingly decorated: put on this lower veſt, the gift of ſylvan goddeſſes.
gloss: Wooded, or covered in forest.
pos: adj
examples: Nicolet Area Technical College, a Rhinelander green centerpiece, gets high marks not just for its management of more than two hundred acres of sylvan land and its thousand feet of frontage along the pristine shores of Lake Julia, but for being Wisconsin's college campus leader in renewable energy use.
This house in McLean, Va., has just about everything a nature lover desires: soothing sounds of the Potomac River, a sylvan setting with countless species of birds and other wildlife, access to hiking, fishing and canoeing — and all within a half-hour of downtown Washington and minutes from the Beltway and George Washington Parkway.
gloss: One who resides in the woods.
pos: noun
examples: [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."
gloss: A fabled deity of the wood; a faun, a satyr.
pos: noun
examples: 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: […]
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; […]
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!
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.
Related words: Pennsylvania
Pittsylvania
savage
Silas
silva
Silvanus
Silvia
silvicolous
silvicultural
silviculture
Silvius
silvology
silvopastoral
silvopastural
silvopasture
Spotsylvania
sylph
sylva
Sylvania
sylvatic
Sylvester
Sylvia
Sylvie
Transylvania
arboreal
nemorous
Derived words: anthrosylvan
sylvanesque
sylvanite
sylvanshine
Translations: