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Je·ru·sa·lem (jə-rsə-ləm, -zə-)
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A city divided between east-central Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Jerusalem was founded as far back as the fourth millennium BC and was ruled by the Canaanites, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks, and British before being divided in 1949 into eastern and western sectors under Israeli and Jordanian control. In 1967, Israeli forces captured the eastern sector from Jordan, later declaring the city as a whole to be the capital of Israel. The legal status of Jerusalem, considered a holy city by Jews, Muslims, and Christians, remains fiercely disputed.
Je·rusa·lem·ite′ (-lə-mīt′) n.
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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