DCHP-1 Online
savanna(h) † [< earlier zavana Sp. < Arawakan (Taino) zabana, undoubtedly influenced by Cdn F savane used in this sense] Atlantic Provinces 
n. a tract of peat bog; a boggy barren.
See also: caribou plain
- 1760 [All these Indians . . . are comprehended by French authors, under the general appellation of Savanois, from the nature of the country they inhabit, which is low, swampy, and ill-wooded, those drowned barren lands, being called Savanes in Canada.]
- 1849 I paced and took angles along indifferent roads, climbed steep ascents, and crossed the great savannah of some 40 miles long, which would afford an almost inexhaustible supply of peat. . . .
- 1883 These savannas are composed of fine, black, compact peat-mould, formed by the growth and decay of mosses, and sustain countless herds of reindeer.
- 1952 Many of these [bogs] are treeless and are locally known as "savannas."
- 1760 [All these Indians . . . are comprehended by French authors, under the general appellation of Savanois, from the nature of the country they inhabit, which is low, swampy, and ill-wooded, those drowned barren lands, being called Savanes in Canada.]