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A line of fortification constructed in the 1930s along France's border with Germany. Thought to be impregnable, the line was bypassed and later captured by the Germans in 1940.
[After AndréMaginot, (1877-1932), French politician and minister of war (1922-1924 and 1929-1932) who proposed building the fortifications.]
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.