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Sa·mar·i·tan

(sə-mărĭ-tn)

1. A native or inhabitant of Samaria.

2. A member of a people inhabiting present-day Israel and the West Bank who trace their ancestry to the ancient Israelites and practice a religion related to pre-rabbinical Judaism.

3. often samaritan A Good Samaritan.

adj.

Of or relating to Samaria or to Samaritans.

[Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin Samarītānus, from Greek Samarītēs, from Samareia, Samaria.]

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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