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Trip·o·li

(trĭpə-lē)

1. A historical region of northern Africa roughly coextensive with the ancient region of Tripolitania. It became part of the Barbary States in the 16th century and later passed to Turkey and Italy.

2. A city of northwest Lebanon on the Mediterranean Sea north-northeast of Beirut. Probably founded after the seventh century BC, it was capital of a Phoenician federation and later flourished under the Seleucid and Roman empires. Tripoli was captured by the Arabs in AD 638 and taken by the Crusaders in 1109 after a long siege.

3. The capital and largest city of Libya, in the northwest part of the country on the Mediterranean Sea. Settled by Phoenicians from Tyre, it has Roman and Byzantine remains.

Tri·poli·tan (trĭ-pŏlĭ-tn) adj. & n.

trip·o·li

(trĭpə-lē)

n. pl. trip·o·lis

A porous, lightweight, siliceous sedimentary rock composed of the shells of diatoms or radiolarians or of finely weathered chert, used as an abrasive and a polish.

[French, probably after Tripoli, Lebanon.]

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.

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