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paleo- or pale- or palaeo- or palae-

pref.

1. Ancient; prehistoric; old: paleobotany.

2. Early; primitive: Paleozoic.

[Greek palaio-, from palaios, ancient, from palai, long ago; see k^wel-² in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

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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