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Savanna

3 stages from Taino to English.

Today it means a flat grassland ecosystem with scattered trees, found in tropical and subtropical regions

Where does the word "savanna" come from? It comes from Taino zabana, passing through Spanish before entering English (1550s).

1
Stage 1 of 3
zabana
Taino · pre-1500s
"a flat, grassy plain"
named a treeless, grassy plain
2
Stage 2 of 3
sabana
Spanish · 1530s
"a flat, treeless grassland"
adopted by Spanish explorers to describe similar grasslands across the Americas
3
Stage 3 of 3
savanna
English · 1550s
"a flat grassland with scattered trees, typically in tropical regions"
anglicized from Spanish descriptions of New World landscapes
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