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SYLVAN

/ˈsɪl.vən/6 letters

Definition of SYLVAN

adjective

Pertaining to the forest, or woodlands.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Medieval Latin sylvanus, possibly via Middle French sylvain, from Latin silvanus, cognate with Latin Silvānus (“Roman god of the woods”), from silva (“forest”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *swel- (“beam, board, frame, threshold”). The ⟨y⟩ in sylvanus and its descendants is due to influence from Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē, “wood, matter”), transliterated in the Latin style as hyle. Analysable as sylva (“silva”) + -an.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

Word DNA

Line of descent

  1. Middle French
  2. Latin
  3. English

2 recorded generations before English.

Middle French

Deepest traced root

13th

of 59 source languages in OUTLIER

1.1%

of traced words share this origin (826)

Romance

branch · 12.9% of traced words

How it is built

adjective2 syllablescompound-an

Same root, SYLVAN · 3 relatives in the game

Its etymology also names Ancient Greek, Proto-Indo-European.

Every Middle French word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
Withheld
Find it yourself

OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.

SYLVAN in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 61 boards so far. 344 players have found it across Outlier's history.

Day 1Day 158
Its 61 boards, across 158 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
61
Boards found on
13
First board
156
Latest board
9
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 13, 2 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 156, 23 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.

First found by a player on Day 13, 2 June 2026.

Built from these letters

SYLVAN
6
Letters
1
Vowels
5
Consonants
6
Different letters
4
Longest consonant run
1
Longest vowel run

SYLVAN starts with S and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ALNSVY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.

Words that start SYLVAN

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

SYLVANSSYLVANERSYLVANERSSYLVANITESYLVANITES

Could you have found SYLVAN?

OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 13 - and most players walked straight past it.

Play today's OUTLIER