HARD WORD

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HARD WORD. A semi-technical term for a difficult WORD of foreign origin: for example, azimuth, hierophant, munificence, perigee, Vedanta. Early English dictionaries, especially in the 17c, that explained such exotic words by means of everyday words, came to be known as hard-word dictionaries. See CAWDREY, DICTIONARY, LONG WORD.

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