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glos·sa·ry

(glôsə-rē, glŏsə-)

n. pl. glos·sa·ries

A list of often difficult or specialized words with their definitions, often placed at the back of a book.

[Middle English glosarie, from Latin glōssārium, from glōssa, foreign word; see GLOSS².]

glos·sari·al (glô-sârē-əl, glŏ-) adj.

glossa·rist n.

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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