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a·mo·le

(ə-mōlē)

1. The root, bulb, or another plant part of several chiefly western North American plants, such as certain species of Agave,Chlorogalum, and Yucca, used as a substitute for soap.

2. A plant so used.

[Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl ahmōlli, soap, amole roots used as soap, from Proto-Uto-Aztecan *amol, agave; compare Cahuilla amul and Luiseño ”əmuul, an agave species (Agave deserti).]

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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