Etymology
The etymology traces a vocabulary entry as far back as possible in English (as to Old English), tells from what language and in what form it came into English, and (except in the case of such words outside the general vocabulary of English as bascule and zloty ) traces the pre-English source as far back as possible if the source is an Indo-European language. These etyma are displayed in italics. Meanings given in roman type in the Etymology field are not definitions of the entry, but are meanings of the Middle English, Old English, or non-English words shown in the field. For more specific information, see the following sections:
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