Sylvan

Look up sylvan or silvan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Sylvan or silvan refers to an association with the woodland. Specifically, that which inhabits the wood, is made of tree materials, or comprises the forest itself. The term can also refer to a person who resides in the woods or a spirit of the wood.^[1] In mythology, the term also refers to deities or spirits of the woods.^[2]

The term in English is from the Latin silva meaning "forest, woods." This root is found in place names in Canada such as Sylvan Lake (as in wooded lake) in Alberta, Sylvan Valley Regional Park Reserve in Saskatchewan, and in the United States like Pennsylvania (lit. "Penn's woods") and Spotsylvania. The first names Sylvester and Sylva(i)n, and the female name Sylvia/Silvia, are also from the Latin word.

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