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ad·der's-mouth (ădərz-mouth′)

Any of various chiefly terrestrial orchids of the genus Malaxis, having terminal clusters of small, often greenish flowers.

[From the resemblance of its flowers to the open mouths of snakes.]

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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