american
/əˈmɛɹɪkən/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.49 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The dialect of English spoken in and around the contiguous United States of America.
Colloquial; Countable; Humorous; Informal; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Americans! your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly inconsistent. You boast of your love of liberty, your superior civilization, and your pure Christianity, while the whole political power of the nation... is solemnly pledged to support and perpetuate the enslavement of three millions of your countrymen."
- "...the British ruling class obviously could not admit to themselves that their usefulness was at an end. Had they done that they would have had to abdicate. For it was not possible for them to turn themselves into mere bandits, like the American millionaires, consciously clinging to unjust privileges and beating down opposition by bribery and tear-gas bombs. After all, they belonged to a class with a certain tradition, they had been to public schools where the duty of dying for your country, if necessary, is laid down as the first and greatest of the Commandments."
- "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
- "Graham Norton: But the people coming up to you now, like the Americans, well, you know, the Americans, they're not shy, the Americans. Maggie Smith: No. Well, no but I don't go anywhere where really they can get at me. It's usually in museums and art galleries and things, so that limits things. I keep away from there, and Harrod's I don't go near."
- "Roughly two-thirds of Americans default to the General American accent, with other dialects like Southern, AAVE, and Chicano usually being considered lower prestige outside of entertainment and politics."
- "The Americans believe that all creatures have souls."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃- Proto-Germanic *amalą Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs Proto-Celtic *rīxsbor. Proto-Germanic *rīks Proto-Germanic *Amalarīksder. Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos Proto-Indo-European *teḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-éyti Proto-Indo-European *tḱéytibf. Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *tḱóymos Proto-Germanic *haimaz ▲ Proto-Germanic *rīks Proto-Germanic *Haimarīksder.? Italian Amerigoder. New Latin Americalbor. English America Middle English -n English -n English American From America + -n. Compare New Latin amerī̆canus.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈmɛɹɪkən/
- British English: /əˈmɛɹɪkən/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Americans (plural)
Am. (alternative)
Amer. (alternative)
Americanian (alternative)
Murican (alternative)
more American (comparative)
most American (superlative)
Derived Forms
Phrases
:Category:en:Demonyms for Americans
United States of America
Aboriginal American
Afra-American
African American
African-American English
Afro-American
all-American