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savannah

 - 7 dictionary results

Sa⋅van⋅nah

[suh-van-uh]
–noun
1. a seaport in E Georgia, near the mouth of the Savannah River. 141,634.
2. a river flowing SE from E Georgia along most of the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina and into the Atlantic. 314 mi. (505 km) long.

sa⋅van⋅na

[suh-van-uh]
–noun
1. a plain characterized by coarse grasses and scattered tree growth, esp. on the margins of the tropics where the rainfall is seasonal, as in eastern Africa.
2. grassland region with scattered trees, grading into either open plain or woodland, usually in subtropical or tropical regions.
Also, sa⋅van⋅nah.


Origin:
1545–55; earlier zavana < Sp (now sabana) < Taino zabana
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sa·van·na also sa·van·nah   (sə-vān'ə)   
n.  A flat grassland of tropical or subtropical regions.

[Obsolete Spanish çavana, from Taino zabana.]
Sa·van·nah   (sə-vān'ə)   
A city of southeast Georgia near the mouth of the Savannah River. Founded by James Oglethorpe in 1733, it is the oldest city in Georgia and has been a major port since the early 19th century. Population: 128,000.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

savanna

A tropical land mass of grassland and scattered trees.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

savannah 
"treeless plain," 1555, from Sp. sabana, earlier zavana "treeless plain," from Arawakan (Haiti). In U.S. use, "a tract of low-lying marshy ground" (1671).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

savannah

vegetation type that grows under hot, seasonally dry climatic conditions and is characterized by an open tree canopy (i.e., scattered trees) above a continuous tall grass understory. The largest areas of savanna are found in Africa, South America, Australia, India, the Myanmar-Thailand region, and Madagascar. Their distribution is shown in

Learn more about savannah with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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