silva Latin · revision 5678

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=Naevius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈsɪɫ.wa], [ˈsɪɫ.waː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsil.va], [ˈsil.va]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''silva''' ''f'' (genitive silvae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It has no etymology.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) It was traditionally compared with [[grc|ὕλη|tr=húlē|t=wood, timber]], and the OLD with [[grc|ξύλον|tr=xúlon|t=wood]] and [[lt|šulas|t=post, stave]], but de Vaan leaves the origin open.^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) Isidore derived it from Greek [[grc|ξύλον|tr=xúlon]], as the place where wood is cut.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Naevius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Ennius has a wolf throw itself into the forest.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was an area of woodland, a forest or wood, as Plautus' “why do you call me hunting in the woods?”, and in the plural wooded regions.^(OLD 2012) It was also brushwood and scrub, as Virgil's rough scrub that comes up where crops die, and in poetry the branches and foliage of trees.^(OLD 2012) By transfer it was a dense mass, a “forest” of spears, and a mass of material, as Plautus says he has enough timber at home for his trickery and Cicero speaks of a store of matter for a speech.^(OLD 2012) Statius named his miscellany of poems ''Silvae''.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Döderlein says ''silva'' is a wood as timber and ''saltus'' a wild wooded upland.^(Döderlein 1874) ''Silvāticus'' gave Old French ''sauvage'', the source of [[en|savage]], and ''silvānus'' gave [[en|sylvan]] in the 1570s.^(Etymonline) Pennsylvania, “Penn's woods”, was named in 1681.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius has a wolf flee into the forest.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of material for trickery.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English ''savage'' is recorded, “wild”, from ''silvāticus''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1681 – The colony of Pennsylvania is named.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|forest]], wood, woodland.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Brushwood, [[m|en|scrub]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # (poetic) Branches, foliage.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A dense mass, a “forest” (of spears).^(OLD 2012)

+ # A mass of material, (plural, as a title) a miscellany.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[silvānus]]

+ * [[silvāticus]]

+ * [[silvēscō]]

+ * [[silvestris]]

+ * [[silvicola]]

+ * [[siluicolens]]

+ * [[silvicultrīx]]

+ * [[silvifragus]]

+ * [[silviger]]

+ * [[silvōsus]]

+ * [[silvula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nemus]]

+ * [[lūcus]]

+ * [[saltus]]

+ * [[en|savage]]

+ * [[en|sylvan]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The spelling ''sylva'' is a later, wrong form influenced by Greek ''hýlē''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Döderlein distinguishes ''silva'' (a wood, as timber), ''saltus'' (wild wooded land), ''nemus'' (a grove with pasture) and ''lūcus'' (a sacred grove).^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}