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Kwan·zaa also Kwan·za

(kwänzə)

An African American cultural festival, celebrated from December 26 to January 1.

[From Swahili kwanza, first (respelled in English as kwanzaa to have seven letters, since there are seven traditional African virtuous principles celebrated by the holiday) in matunda ya kwanza, first fruits : matunda, plural of tunda, fruit + ya, possessive particle + kwanza, first (from kuanza, to begin : ku-, infinitive prefix + -anza, to begin + from Proto-Bantu *-gand-).]

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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