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O·ran

(ō-rän, ô-räɴ)

A city of northwest Algeria on the Gulf of Oran, an inlet of the Mediterranean Sea west-southwest of Algiers. Built on a site occupied since prehistoric times, Oran was captured by the Spanish in 1509 and by the Turks in 1708. It was occupied by the French from 1831 until 1962 except for a brief period during World War II when it was under Allied control.

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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