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Glenn

(glĕn), John Herschel, Jr. 1921-2016.

American astronaut and politician. On February 20, 1962, aboard Friendship 7, he became the first American to orbit the earth. He served as US senator from Ohio for four consecutive terms (1974-1998). In 1998 he became the oldest person to participate in a space flight mission as a crew member of the space shuttle Discovery.

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John Glenn

photographed in 1998

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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