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Jor·dan

(jôrdn)

A country of southwest Asia in northwest Arabia. Inhabited in ancient times by various Semitic peoples such as the Moabites and the Nabataeans, the area was conquered by the Romans (first century AD), Arabs (seventh century), and Ottoman Turks, who held it from 1516 until World War I. As Transjordan the country became part of the British mandate of Palestine in 1920, gaining independence in 1946. It was renamed Jordan in 1949 after acquiring the West Bank, which it later renounced in 1974. Amman is the capital and the largest city.

Jor·dani·an (jôr-dānē-ən) adj. & n.

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Jordan

Jordan, David Starr 1851-1931.

American ichthyologist and educator who published important works on North American fishes and served as the first president of Stanford University (1891-1913).

Jordan, Michael Jeffrey Born 1963.

American basketball player. A guard mostly with the Chicago Bulls (1984-1993, 1994-1998), he set a National Basketball Association record for most seasons leading the league in scoring (10), and was named most valuable player five times.

Jordan, Barbara Charline 1936-1996.

American politician. An eloquent spokesperson for the rights of the disadvantaged, she served as a US representative from Texas (1973-1979).

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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