silvestris

Latin

Alternative forms

• sylvestris

Etymology

From silva (“woods, forest”) +‎ -estris.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /silˈu̯es.tris/, [s̠ɪɫ̪ˈu̯ɛs̠t̪rɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /silˈves.tris/, [silˈvɛst̪ris]

Adjective

silvestris (neuter silvestre); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. Of or pertaining to a forest or wood
2. forested, wooded, overgrown with trees
3. rural, wild, living in forests

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	silvestris	silvestre		silvestrēs	silvestria
Genitive	silvestris			silvestrium
Dative	silvestrī			silvestribus
Accusative	silvestrem	silvestre		silvestrēs silvestrīs	silvestria
Ablative	silvestrī			silvestribus
Vocative	silvestris	silvestre		silvestrēs	silvestria

Derived terms

• silva
• silvēscō
• silvestria
• silvicola
• silvicultrīx
• silvōsus

 

Descendants

• France:
  • Franco-Provençal: [ʃaˈviθro]
  • Occitan: sauvestre (Niçard)
  • Old French: sevestre, sovestre
    • Middle French: sevest (hapax)
    • ⇒ Norman: chevrestre (crossed with chevre 'goat'?)
• Italy:
  • ⇒ Italian: salvastrella (“burnet plant”)
  • Piedmontese: svestru (“water salamander”)
  • Sardinian: silivestru (“mistletoe”)
• Borrowings:
  • → Catalan: silvestre
  • → Galician: silvestre
  • → Italian: silvestre
  • → Portuguese: silvestre
  • → Spanish: silvestre

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “sĭlvĕstris”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 11: S–Si, page 621

Further reading

• “silvestris”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “silvestris”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• silvestris in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.