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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:
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n. Any of various large, long-legged Old World game birds of the family Otididae that nest on the ground and frequent dry grassy plains. [Middle English, from blend of Old French bistarde and Old French oustarde, both from Latin avis tarda : avis, bird; see awi- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + tarda, feminine of tardus, slow.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
