(SILL-vuhn)
Pertaining to
trees and
forests; wooded
In
Roman myth, Silvanus was a
god of trees, fields, and forests. His name derives from Latin "silva," which means "forest."
Incidentally, "sylvan" is an etymological relative of such woodsy names as "Sylvester" and "Sylvia," as well as "Pennsylvania" ("Penn's woods") named for the father of William Penn, the colony's founder.
"Faint was the air with the odorous breath of magnolia blossoms,
And with the heat of noon; and numberless sylvan islands,
Fragrant and thickly embowered with blossoming hedges of roses,
Near to whose shores they glided along, invited to slumber.
Soon by the fairest of these their weary oars were suspended."
--
"Evangeline," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow