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jun·ta

(hntə, jŭn-)

1. A group of military officers ruling a country after seizing power.

2. A council or small legislative body in a government, especially in Central or South America.

[Spanish, conference, council, junta, from Old Spanish juntar, to join, unite, assemble, from Vulgar Latin *iūnctāre, from Latin iūnctus, past participle of Latin iungere, to join; see yeug- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: For a long time this 18th-century borrowing from Spanish was pronounced (jŭntə) by English speakers on both sides of the Atlantic. By the middle of the 20th century, however, the pronunciation (hntə), an approximation of the Spanish pronunciation, had gained currency in the US. This word is now usually pronounced (hntə) in American English and (jŭntə) in British English.

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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