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Phoenix Islands

A group of eight small islands in the central Pacific Ocean north of Samoa. Inhabited in prehistoric times by Austronesian peoples and later rediscovered by British and American explorers, they were administered at various times by one or both of the countries and are now part of Kiribati.

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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