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ar·ma·dil·lo

(är′mə-dĭlō)

n. pl. ar·ma·dil·los

Any of various omnivorous burrowing mammals of the family Dasypodidae, native to southern North America and Central and South America and characterized by an armorlike covering consisting of jointed bony plates.

[Spanish, diminutive of armado, armored, past participle of armar, to arm, from Latin armāre, from arma, arms; see ar- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

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armadillo

larger hairy armadillo

Chaetophractus villosus

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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