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O·si·ris

(ō-sīrĭs)

n.
Mythology

The ancient Egyptian god whose annual death and resurrection personified the self-renewing vitality and fertility of nature.

[Latin Osīris, from Greek, from Egyptian wsjr, perhaps originally js-jrt, seat of the eye (of the sun) : js-, akin to jst, seat + jrt, eye.]

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Osiris

c. 1275 bc painted wood statue from the Tomb of Hunefer

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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