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Gild·ed Age

(gĭldĭd)

The period in American history from about 1870 to 1900, during which rapid industrialization, a labor pool swelled by immigration, and minimal governmental regulation allowed the upper classes to accumulate great wealth and enjoy opulent lifestyles.

[After the 1873 novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900), American author.]

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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