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Ol·mec

(ŏlmĕk, ōl-)

n. pl. Olmec or Ol·mecs

1. An early Mesoamerican Indian civilization centered in the Veracruz region of southeast Mexico that flourished between 1300 and 400 BC, whose cultural influence was widespread throughout southern Mexico and Central America.

2. A member of any of various peoples sharing the Olmec culture.

[Nahuatl Ōlmēcah, plural of Ōlmēcatl, an Olmec, from Ōlmān, Olmec homeland (literally, "land of rubber"), from ōlli, rubber from the tree Castilla elastica.]

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:

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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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