Word: American Part of Speech: noun 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 *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. Pronunciation: /əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/, /əˈmɛɹ.ə.kən/, /əˈmɛɹ.kən/, /əˈmɝ.ə.kən/ 1. A citizen or national of the United States of America. Example: 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. Example: ...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. 2. Any inhabitant of the Americas. 3. A citizen or inhabitant of British America. Labels: historical 4. An indigenous inhabitant of the Americas. Labels: archaic Example: The Americans believe that all creatures have souls. Example: Within a few months the ‘slave Alexandre’ had been successfully transformed into what, across the Channel, was called a ‘blackamoor dandy’. Parisians preferred the more politely euphemistic term ‘American’. ] 5. An inhabitant of French or Spanish New World colonies. Labels: obsolete Example: 1839, Washington Irving, 'National Nomenclature', The Knickerbocker In France, when I have announced myself as an American, I have been supposed to belong to one of the French colonies; in Spain, to be from Mexico, or Peru, or some other Spanish-American country. 6. The dialect of English spoken in and around the contiguous United States of America. Labels: colloquial, humorous, informal Example: -A . Spanish ; my mother and father speak American ; my brothers and sisters speak Spanish ; when he is in the house , we speak American ; we have American prayers at night before we go to bed . Q. Is that usual in the families of the[…] Example: “Do you speak American,” then asked the lady. “Oh, naow,” he replied with a still stronger emphasis. “But wouldn't you like to learn American?" persisted the lady. “Oh, naow, thanks," answered this sturdy little patriot. […] 7. American cheese. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping Example: Q: What kinds of cheese do you have? A: We have American, Swiss, cheddar, provolone, or wiz. 8. A steam locomotive of the 4-4-0 wheel arrangement. 9. A size of type smaller than German, 1-point type. Labels: US, dated, rare, uncountable