selva

selva

See also: Selva and selvä

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛlvə/

Noun

selva (plural selvas)

1. Heavily forested ground in the Amazon basin.

Translations

heavily forested ground in the Amazon basin

Armenian: սելվա (selva)

Anagrams

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

---

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin silva.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈselba/, [ˈsel.β̞a]

Noun

selva f (plural selves)

1. rainforest

---

Catalan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /ˈsəl.və/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛl.bə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈsel.va/

Noun

selva f (plural selves)

1. jungle, rainforest

Hypernyms

• bosc

Derived terms

• selva amazònica
• selva nebulosa
• selva pluvial
• selva tropical

 

Related terms

• salvatge
• selvàtic

References

• “selva” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “selva” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

---

Italian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsel.va/, /ˈsɛl.va/[1]
• Rhymes: -elva, -ɛlva
• Hyphenation: sél‧va, sèl‧va

Noun

selva f (plural selve)

1. forest, wood
   • early 14^th century, Dante, “Canto I”, in Inferno, lines 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 dark forest, ¶ for the straightforward 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. (figurative) 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

References

1. selva in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams

• salve, slave, svela, valse

---

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

---

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛw.vɐ/ [ˈsɛʊ̯.vɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛw.vɐ/ [ˈsɛʊ̯.vɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛw.va/ [ˈsɛʊ̯.va]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛl.vɐ/ [ˈsɛɫ.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

Descendants

• → English: selva
• → Russian: се́льва (sélʹva)

---

Spanish

Selva (rainforest).

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈselba/ [ˈsel.β̞a]

• Audio (Colombia)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -elba
• Syllabification: sel‧va

Noun

selva f (plural selvas)

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

Derived terms

• La Selva
• ley de la selva
• selva amazónica
• selva lluviosa
• Selva Misionera
• Selva Negra
• selvático

 

Related terms

• salvaje
• selvático
• silvestre
• silvicultura

Descendants

• → Russian: се́льва (sélʹva)

See also

• bosque
• jungla

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• laves
• levas
• salve
• vales
• valse
• velas