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ma·zur·ka

(mə-zûrkə, -zr-)

1. A Polish dance resembling the polka, usually in 3/4 or 3/8 time with the second beat heavily accented, and frequently adopted as a ballet form.

2. The music for this dance.

[Russian, possibly from Polish (tańczyć) mazurka, (to dance) the mazurka, accusative of mazurek, dance of the Mazovians, from diminutive of Mazur, person from Mazovia, a historical region of eastern Poland.]

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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