SAVANNA  or

SAVANNAH (Span. sdvana, a sheet; Late Lat. sabanum, Gr. o0avov, a linen cloth), a term applied either to a plain covered with snow or ice, or, more generally, to a treeless plain . Its use in English, more frequent formerly than now, is most common in application to the great plains of central North America, in which it is practically the equivalent of " prairie " (q.v.) . In this application it was first used (accented thussavdna) by the Spanish historian Gonzalo de Oviedo y Valdes in the 16th century .