Where does “Pennsylvania” come from?

Pennsylvania derives from English sylvan, Latin -ia, Ancient Greek -ία, and Proto-Indo-European -h₂, ultimately forming a place name whose original sense is unknown.

Pennsylvania (English): which grew progressively larger before becoming the present state

Definitions

  1. which grew progressively larger before becoming the present state

Ancestry of “Pennsylvania”, step by step

Pennsylvania traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English sylvan

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsylvanPertaining to the forest, or woodlands; Residing...
2LatinSilvānus—
3Latinsilvawood, forest; orchard, grove
4Proto-Indo-Europeansēl-to calm, quiet, be favourable

via English Penn

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishPennWilliam Penn
2Proto-Slavicpьňьtrunk

Words derived from “Pennsylvania”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sēl- →Every word from Latin silva →Every word from Latin Silvānus →