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ma·dro·ne or ma·dro·na

(mə-drōnə) also ma·dro·ño (-drōnyō)

n. pl. ma·dro·nes or ma·dro·nas also ma·dro·ños

An evergreen tree (Arbutus menziesii) in the heath family, native to Pacific North America, having glossy leaves, small white flowers, flaky bark, and orange or red edible berries.

[American Spanish madroño, tree of the genus Arbutus, from Spanish, strawberry tree, from Old Spanish, from Mozarabic maṭroño, probably from earlier *armaṭrono (taken as Arabic al-, the + Mozarabic maṭroño), ultimately from alteration (perhaps influenced by Latin māteria, tree trunk, or mātūrus, ripe) of Vulgar Latin *arbutrus, alteration of Latin arbutus.]

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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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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