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1. (also näsou′)A region and former duchy of central Germany north and east of the Main and Rhine Rivers. The region became a duchy in 1806 and was absorbed by Prussia in 1866.
2. The capital and largest city of the Bahamas, on the northeast coast of New Providence Island in the Atlantic Ocean east of Miami, Florida. Settled in the 1600s, it was a haven for pirates in the 1700s.
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:
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.