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Northern Ireland

A division of the United Kingdom in the northeast section of the island of Ireland. It was colonized by the British in the 1600s and remained in the United Kingdom after the establishment of the independent Republic of Ireland. Civil strife between the Protestant majority and Catholic minority of Northern Ireland erupted frequently from the late 1960s until the signing of a power-sharing agreement (1998). Belfast is the capital and the largest city.

Northern Ireland·er n.

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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