# Transylvania

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˌtɹæn.səlˈveɪ.ni.ə/ · frequency rank #32,216

## Definitions
1. A historical region in western Romania.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *terh₂-der.
Proto-Italic *trānts
Medieval Latin trāns
Medieval Latin trans-
Medieval Latin silva
Proto-Indo-European *-nós
Proto-Italic *-nos
Medieval Latin -nus
Medieval Latin silvānus
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Proto-Italic *-ios
Old Latin -ios
Medieval Latin -ius
Medieval Latin -ia
▲
Old Hungarian Erdeuelucalq.
Medieval Latin Trānsylvānialbor.
English Transylvania
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin Trānsylvānia, alternative spelling of Trānssilvānia, from trāns (“across”) + silvānus (“forest”, relational adjective) + -ia (abstract noun suffix), i.e. “region across the forest”, a calque of Hungarian Erdély, from erdő (“forest”) + elv/elü (“region beyond”). By surface analysis, trans- + sylvan + -ia.

## Common misspellings (19)
`rtansylvania`, `tarnsylvania`, `trannsylvania`, `translyvania`, `transsylvania`, `transylavnia`, `transyllvania`, `transylvaina`, `transylvanai`, `transylvannia`, `transylvnaia`, `transylvvania`, `transyvlania`, `transyylvania`, `tranyslvania`, `trasnylvania`, `trnasylvania`, `trransylvania`, `ttransylvania`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/transylvania