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Sa·mar·a

(sə-mârə)

A city of western Russia on the Volga River east-southeast of Moscow. Founded in 1586 as a stronghold to defend river trade and the eastern frontier, it was temporarily the capital of the USSR from 1941 to 1943. From 1935 to 1991, it was known as Kuibyshev.

sam·a·ra

(sămər-ə, sə-mârə, -märə)

A dry, indehiscent, winged one-seeded or two-seeded fruit, as of an ash, elm, or maple.

[Latin samara, samera, elm samara, perhaps of Gaulish or Venetic origin.]

(click for a larger image)

samara

top: slippery elm fruit

bottom: silver maple fruit

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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Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices