savanna

or sa·van·nah

[ suh-van-uh ]

/ səˈvæn ə /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR savanna ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a plain characterized by coarse grasses and scattered tree growth, especially on the margins of the tropics where the rainfall is seasonal, as in eastern Africa.

grassland region with scattered trees, grading into either open plain or woodland, usually in subtropical or tropical regions.

RELATED WORDS

grassland, plain, savannah

Nearby words

savage, richard, savagely, savagery, savagism, savaii, savanna, savanna monkey, savannah, savannah sparrow, savannakhet, savant

Origin of savanna

1545–55; earlier zavana < Spanish (now sabana) < Taino zabana

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for savanna

It signifies a savanna or meadow and was applied to two (or more) former Cherokee settlements.
Myths of the Cherokee|James Mooney
A garden in front was shut off from the savanna by a fence of bananas.
With the World's Great Travellers, Volume 2|Various
A small village on the Ro Papaloapan in northern Oaxaca; low evergreen forest and savanna .
A Distributional Study of the Amphibians of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico|William E. Duellman
I awoke, as you will remember, in the center of the savanna.
The Revolutions of Time|Jonathan Dunn

But nothing could at first rouse Adeline, not even Savanna's loud and extravagant grief.
Adeline Mowbray|Amelia Alderson Opie

British Dictionary definitions for savanna

savanna

savannah

/ (səˈvænə) /

noun

open grasslands, usually with scattered bushes or trees, characteristic of much of tropical Africa

Word Origin for savanna

C16: from Spanish zavana, from Taino zabana

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for savanna

savanna

savannah

(sə-văn′ə)

A flat, grass-covered area of tropical or subtropical regions, nearly treeless in some places but generally having a mix of widely spaced trees and bushes. Savannas have distinct wet and dry seasons, with the mix of vegetation dependent primarily on the relative length of the two seasons.

Culture definitions for savanna

savanna

A tropical land mass of grassland and scattered trees.