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The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
A group of volcanic islands lying along the equator in the Pacific Ocean west of the mainland of Ecuador. The islands are famous for their rare animal species, including the giant tortoises for which they are named. Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1835 and collected a wealth of scientific data that contributed to his theory of natural selection. Tourism is now regulated to protect the islands' many endemic and endangered species.
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:
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.