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Charles·ton 1 (chärlstən)
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1. A city of southeast South Carolina northeast of Savannah on Charleston Harbor. Founded in 1670, it prospered as a port and became a major cultural center. The Civil War began here with the signing of the Ordinance of Secession (December 20, 1860) and the bombardment of Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861).
2. The capital and largest city of West Virginia, in the west-central part of the state. The city grew around the site of Fort Lee in the late 1780s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Charles·ton 2 (chärlstən)
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n.
A fast dance in 4/4 time, popularized in the United States in the 1920s.

[After Charleston1, South Carolina.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.