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Su·dan (s-dăn)
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1. A region of northern Africa south of the Sahara and north of the equator. It extends across the continent from the Atlantic coast to the mountains of Ethiopia.
2. A country of northeast Africa south of Egypt. Northern Sudan formed part of the ancient kingdoms of Nubia and Cush. Conquered by Egypt in 1820-1822 and jointly administered by Great Britain and Egypt after 1899, Sudan achieved independence in 1956. Khartoum is the capital and Omdurman is the largest city. In 2011, the southern part of the country seceded, forming the republic of South Sudan.

Suda·nese(sdn-ēz, -ēs) adj. & n.
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Sudan

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.