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The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
A country of eastern Europe bordering on Romania. Comprised of lands acquired by Russia from the historical region of Moldavia in 1791, 1793, and 1812 and (after 1940) part of Bessarabia, it was established as an autonomous republic of the USSR in 1924 and became a constituent republic in 1940, known as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. Moldova declared its independence in 1991. Chişinău is the capital and the largest city.
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:
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.