Savannah (Span. sabana, 'a sheet;') at first used of a plain covered with ice or snow), a name given by the early Spanish settlers to the great treeless plains of the North American continent. It is practically the equivalent of 'prairie' and 'steppe;' but is a term in use mainly in the southern Atlantic States of the American Union, especially Florida.
Savannah
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 9: Bound to Swansea, p. 174
Source scan(s): p. 0185