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Spanish Main

1. The coastal region of mainland Spanish America in the 1500s and 1600s, especially the region of coast on the Caribbean Sea between the Isthmus of Panama and the mouth of the Orinoco River.

2. The section of the Caribbean Sea crossed by Spanish ships in colonial times. English buccaneers often raided these treasure-laden ships.

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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