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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:
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.
OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT
Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words!
tr.v. pes·tered, pes·ter·ing, pes·ters To annoy persistently, as with repeated demands or questions. See Synonyms at harass. [Probably short for French empestrer, to constrain, embarrass (probably also influenced by PEST), from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *impāstōriāre : Latin in-, in; see IN-2 + Vulgar Latin *pāstōria, a hobble, from Latin, feminine of pāstōrius, of a herdsman (from pāstor, herdsman; see pā- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] pester·er n. |
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