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ti·ar·a

(tē-ărə, -ârə, -ärə)

1. An ornamental, often jeweled, crownlike semicircle worn on the head, especially by women on formal occasions.

2. The triple crown historically worn by the pope, especially at his coronation ceremony, and still used heraldically as a symbol of the papacy.

[Latin tiāra, tall conical headdress of the ancient Persians, from Greek tiārā.]

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tiara

c. 1820 tiara by Jacques-Evrard and Christophe-Frédéric Bapst, made for the Duchess of Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI of France

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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