selva

See also: Selva and selvä

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish selva, from Latin silva. Doublet of silva.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛlvə/

Noun

selva (plural selvas)

1. Heavily forested ground in the Amazon basin.

Anagrams

• 'alves, Levas, Slave, Slavé, Veals, avels, evals, laves, salve, slave, vales, valse, veals

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Asturian

Etymology

From Latin silva.

Noun

selva f (plural selves)

1. rainforest

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Catalan

Etymology

From , from Latin silva, from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *swel- (“beam, board, frame, threshold”). Compare Occitan selva, Spanish selva, Italian selva.

Noun

selva f (plural selves)

1. jungle, rainforest

Related terms

• salvatge

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin silva, from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *swel- (“beam, board, frame, threshold”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsel.va/, [ˈs̪el̺vä]
• Hyphenation: sél‧va

Noun

selva f (plural selve)

1. forest, wood
   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno, Le Monnier (1994), Canto I, p. 5, vv. 1-3:

     Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
     mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
     ché la diritta via era smarrita.

     Midway upon the journey of our life
     I found myself within a forest dark,
     for the straight-forward pathway had been lost.

2. (by extension, poetic) wood (material), woodland
   • 1374, Francesco Petrarca, Il Canzoniere, Andrea Bettini (1858), p.188, Capitolo XIII:

     [...] e non si trasformasse in verde selva,
     per uscirmi di braccia come il giorno
     che Apollo la seguia quaggiù per terra.

     [...] and may she not be changed to green woodland,
     issuing from my arms, as on the day
     when Apollo pursued her down here on earth.

3. (figuratively) mass, multitude, forest
   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno, Le Monnier (1994), Canto IV, p. 57, vv. 64-66:

     Non lasciavam l'andar perch'ei dicessi,
     ma passavam la selva tuttavia,
     la selva, dico, di spiriti spessi.

     We ceased not to advance because he spake,
     but still were passing onward through the forest,
     the forest, say I, of thick-crowded ghosts.

Synonyms

• bosco
• foresta

Derived terms

• selvicoltore
• selvicultore

Related terms

• salvastrella
• selvaggio
• selvatico
• selvoso

• silvano
• silvestre
• silvicolo

Anagrams

• salve, slave, svela, valse

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Latvian

Noun

selva f (4th declension)

1. selva

Declension

Declension of selva (4th declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	selva	selvas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	selvu	selvas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	selvas	selvu
dative (datīvs)	selvai	selvām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	selvu	selvām
locative (lokatīvs)	selvā	selvās
vocative (vokatīvs)	selva	selvas

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Latin silva, from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *swel- (“beam, board, frame, threshold”). Compare the doublet silva.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛɫ.vɐ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛw.va/, /ˈsɛw.vɐ/
• Hyphenation: sel‧va

Noun

selva f (plural selvas)

1. jungle

   O leão é o rei da selva.

   The lion is the king of the jungle.

2. woods, forest

   Synonyms: floresta; see also Thesaurus:floresta

3. (figuratively) mass, multitude, forest

Quotations

• 1844: O apertado revolver das armas formava uma selva de ferros em volta dos dois capitães inimigos, através da qual debalde o conde de Septum buscara multas vezes abrir caminho para ferir Teodomiro, até que finalmente, galgando por cima de um árabe derribado, pudera vibrar um golpe. — Alexandre Herculano, "Eurico, o Presbítero".

Derived terms

• selvagem
• selvageria
• silvestre
• silvícola
• silvicultura

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Spanish

Selva (rainforest).

Etymology

From Latin silva, from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *swel- (“beam, board, frame, threshold”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈselba/ [ˈsel.β̞a]

Noun

selva f (plural selvas)

1. (forestry) forest or jungle, wood, chiefly a rainforest

Derived terms

• La Selva
• ley de la selva
• selvático
• Selva Negra

Related terms

• salvaje
• selvático
• silvestre
• silvicultura

See also

• bosque
• jungla

Anagrams

• laves
• levas
• salve

• vales
• valse
• velas

Further reading

• “selva”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014