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Venezuela, Gulf of

An inlet of the Caribbean Sea between northwest Venezuela and northern Colombia. It extends southward as Lake Maracaibo.

Ven·e·zue·la

(vĕn′ə-zwālə)

A country of northern South America on the Caribbean Sea. Inhabited by a variety of Arawakan and other peoples, the region was visited by Columbus in 1498 and colonized by Spain beginning in the 1520s, eventually becoming part of the viceroyalty of New Granada. Venezuela won independence in 1821 in federation with Colombia and Ecuador and broke away to form a separate country in 1830. Caracas is the capital and the largest city.

Ven′e·zuelan adj. & n.

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Venezuela

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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