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Be·lo·rus·sia

(bĕl′ō-rŭshə, byĕl′-) or Bye·lo·rus·sia (byĕl′ō-) Popularly known as White Russia.

1. A region of eastern Europe in present-day Belarus and Poland. Settled by Slavs in the 5th century, it became a part of the grand duchy of Lithuania in the 14th century, merged with Poland in 1569, and was annexed by Russia in the 18th century. In 1921 the western part of the region was ceded to Poland, and the eastern part became the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, now Belarus.

2. See Belarus.

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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