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Me·grez

(mēgrĕz′)

A star in the Big Dipper, in the constellation Ursa Major, approximately 82 light years from Earth.

[Short for Arabic maġriz aḏ-ḏanab ad-dubb al-'akbar, the root of the tail of the greater bear, from maġriz, root, from ġaraza, to prick, insert; see ġrz in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

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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