sylvan

sylvan · adjective, noun¹

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromῡ̔́λη“wood, matter”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sel-
3. Latin · derived fromSilvānus“Roman god of the woods”
4. Latin · derived fromsilvanus
5. Middle French · borrowed fromsylvain
6. Medieval Latin · borrowed fromsylvanus
7. English todaysylvan

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.

Sylvan · proper noun²

1. Swedish · borrowed fromSylvan
2. French · derived fromSylvain
3. English todaySylvan

An altered form of French Sylvain, or borrowed from Swedish Sylvan.

Words from the same roots