| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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Appendix II
Semitic Roots |
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| ENTRY: |  pr1. |
| DEFINITION: | Arabic root, to be(come) empty, vacant. a. cipher, zero; decipher, from Arabic ifr, empty (translation of Sanskrit   nyam, cipher, dot), from afira, to be(come) empty, vacant; b. Safar, from Arabic afar, Safar, probably from afira (see above). |
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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