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stretch mark

A shiny line on the skin of the abdomen, breasts, thighs, or buttocks that is often lighter than the surrounding skin and is caused by the stretching and weakening of elastic tissues usually as a result of pregnancy or weight gain.

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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