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Schles·wig

(shlĕswĭg, -wĭk, shlāsvĭk)

A historical region and former duchy of northern Germany and southern Denmark in southern Jutland. The duchy was created in 1115 and passed, along with the duchy of Holstein, to Christian I of Denmark in 1460. After subdivisions caused by complex hereditary holdings, the duchies were once more reunited under the Danish crown in 1773. Denmark, Prussia, and Austria contended for the region until 1866, when it was annexed by Prussia. In 1920 the northern part of Schleswig was returned to Denmark by plebiscite. The southern portion became (1946) part of the West German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

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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