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Ascension Island

An island in the southern Atlantic Ocean northwest of St. Helena. Discovered by the Portuguese on Ascension Day in 1501, it was taken by the British in 1815 and has been administered by St. Helena since 1922.

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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