literally "beyond the forest," from Medieval Latin, from trans "beyond" (see trans-) + sylva (see sylvan). So called in reference to the wooded mountains that surround it.
Entries linking to transylvania
trans-
word-forming element meaning "across, beyond, through, on the other side of, to go beyond," from Latin trans (prep.) "across, over, beyond," perhaps originally present participle of a verb *trare-, meaning "to cross," from PIE *tra-, variant of root *tere- (2) "cross over, pass through, overcome." In chemical use indicating "a compound in which two characteristic groups are situated on opposite sides of an axis of a molecule" [Flood].
sylvan adj.
"of the woods," 1570s, from French sylvain (1530s), from Latin silvanus "pertaining to wood or forest" (originally only in silvanae "goddesses of the woods"), from silva "wood, woodland, forest, orchard, grove," of unknown origin. The unetymological -y- is a misspelling in Latin from influence of Greek hylē "forest," from which the Latin word formerly was supposed to derive.