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ooze ²

(z)

1. Soft mud or slime.

2. A layer of mudlike sediment on the floor of oceans and lakes, composed chiefly of remains of microscopic sea animals.

3. Muddy ground.

[From Early Modern English oase, ooze (probably influenced by OOZE¹), from Middle English wose, from Old English wāse; akin to Danish dialectal vejs.]

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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