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bort

(bôrt)

1. Poorly crystallized diamonds used for industrial cutting and abrasion.

2. A carbonado.

[Probably from Dutch boort, tiny waste diamond pieces produced in the gem cutting process, bort , probably from Old French bourt, bastard, from Late Latin burdus, hinny, probably of Celtic origin; akin to Burdō and Burdōnus, ancient Celtic masculine personal names derived from a word for a donkey or mule, animals admired for their robustness.]

borty adj.

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:

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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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