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Bei·rut (bā-rt)
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The capital and largest city of Lebanon, in the western part of the country on the Mediterranean Sea. Founded by the Phoenicians, it was an important Greek and Roman trade center. Beirut was the scene of bitter factional fighting between Christians and Muslims after the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975 and was further damaged by an Israeli siege in 1982.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

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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