| 释义 |
‖ sylva, silva|ˈsɪlvə|
[L. silva a wood, forest, woodland: commonly misspelt sylva in imitation of the synonymous Gr. ὕλη (see hyle).]
1. a. A title for a treatise on forest trees, or a descriptive list or catalogue of trees. (Cf. flora 2.)
1664Evelyn (title) Sylva, Or a Discourse of Forest-Trees. 1859W. S. Coleman Woodlands (1866) 63 Its [sc. the walnut's] importance as a timber and fruit tree is so great that we must introduce it as a member of our Sylva.
b. The trees of a particular region or period collectively. (Cf. flora 3.)
1846–8Lowell Biglow P. Ser. i. 2nd Let. fr. B. Sawin Postscr., In the sylva of our own Southern States, the females of my family have called my attention to the china⁓tree. 1882‘Ouida’ Maremma I. 148 The rich sylva and flora which the central part of the Maremma possesses.
†2. A title for a collection of pieces, esp. of poems; also, a thesaurus of words or phrases.
After the title (Silvæ) of Statius's collection of occasional poems.
[1626Bacon (title) Sylva Sylvarvm: or A Naturall Historie. In ten Centvries.] 1636A. C[owley] (title) Sylva, or Divers Copies of Verses Made upon sundry occasions. 1675Alsop Anti-sozzo iii. §2. 259 What ever other Synonima his Sylva will furnish him with. 1728Chambers Cycl., Sylva, in Poetry, a poetical Piece, composed, as it were, at a Start; in a kind of Rapture or Transport,..its chief Use, in our Language is, metaphorically, to express certain Collections of poetical Pieces, of various Kinds, and on various Subjects. 1787(title) Sylva; or, the Wood: being a Collection of Anecdotes, Dissertations, Characters, Apophthegms, Original Letters, Bons Mots, and other little things... By a Society of the Learned. |
