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Car·thage

(kärthĭj)

An ancient city and state of northern Africa on the Bay of Tunis northeast of modern Tunis. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the ninth century BC and became the center of a maritime empire in the Mediterranean after the sixth century BC. The city was destroyed by the Romans at the end of the Third Punic War (146 BC) but was rebuilt by Julius Caesar and later (AD 439-533) served as capital of the Vandals before its virtual annihilation by the Arabs (698).

Car′tha·gini·an (kär′thə-jĭnē-ən) adj. & n.

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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