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Hus·sein 1 or Hu·sain or Hu·sayn (h-sān) 626-680.
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The grandson of Muhammad and son of Fatima and Ali, revered by Shiites as the third imam.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Hus·sein 2 or Hu·sain or Hu·sayn (h-sān) Full name King Hussein bin Talal. 1935-1999.
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King of Jordan (1953-1999) who established a constitutional hereditary monarchy and espoused a moderate, generally pro-Western policy in the Middle East. He lost western Jordan to Israel in the Six-Day War (1967) but was later instrumental in negotiating the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace (1994).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Hussein, Saddam 1937-2006.
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Iraqi military and political leader who became president of Iraq in 1979. He waged war against Iran (1980-1988), and his invasion and occupation of Kuwait provoked the Gulf War (1990-1991). He was deposed in a US-led invasion of Iraq (2003), convicted of crimes against humanity, and executed.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. 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.