Silas (name) The Latin name "Silvanus" may be derived from pre-Roman Italian languages. Silas (name) Silas is a common given name and a lesser-known surname. It is a cognate of Silvanus. Silas as a name today comes from the early Christian disciple Silas. He is consistently called "Silas" in Acts, but the Latin Silvanus, which means "of the forest," is always used by Paul and in the First Epistle of Peter; it is likely that "Silvanus" is the Romanized version of the original "Silas," or that "Silas" is the Greek nickname for "Silvanus." It has been suggested that Silas is the Greek
English words of Greek origin rare technical term of rhetoric); "pentathlon, pentathlons" not "*pentathla"; "demon, demons" not "*demones"; "climaxes", not "*climaces". Usage is mixed in some cases: "schema, schemas" or "schemata"; "lexicon, lexicons" or "lexica"; "helix, helixes" or "helices"; "sphinx, sphinges" or "sphinxes"; "clitoris, clitorises" or "clitorides". And there are misleading cases: "pentagon" comes from Greek "pentagonon", so its plural cannot be "*pentaga"; it is "pentagons" (Greek πεντάγωνα/"pentagona") ("cf." Plurals from Latin and Greek). Few English verbs are derived from the corresponding Greek verbs; examples are "baptize", "ostracize", and "cauterize". However, the Greek verbal suffix "-ize" is productive in Latin, the Romance languages, and English: