American, n. and adj.
Forms:
α. 15– American.
β. Chiefly humorous and nonstandard 19– Americun, 19– Amerkin, 19– Amerricun, 19– Amurkin.
(Show Less)
Etymology: < the name of America (see America n.) + -an suffix. Compare post-classical Latin Americanus , adjective (see Americana n.), Middle French ameriquain, adjective (1567; French américain), noun (1580 or earlier; French américain; compare Middle French amerique inhabitant of America (1556)), Spanish americano, noun (1618), adjective (1635), Portuguese americano, noun and adjective (a1679), Italian americano, noun and adjective (1751); also Dutch Amerikaner, noun (1667 in an apparently isolated attestation), Amerikaan, noun (1790 as American), Amerikaans, adjective (1820 as amerikaansch), German amerikanisch, adjective (1630 as americanisch, or earlier), Amerikaner, noun (1661 as Americaner, or earlier), Swedish amerikansk, adjective (1663), Swedish amerikan, noun (1678).
A. n.
1. An indigenous inhabitant of (any part of) the Americas; an American Indian. Now only with modifying word, as indigenous American, original American, etc.; see also Native American n. 1.
1568 T. Hacket tr. A. Thevet New Found Worlde xxxviii. f. 57, These Americans [Fr. Ameriques] do neuer make amongst them any paction or concorde.
1578 G. Best True Disc. Passage to Cathaya iii. 61 They are naturally borne children of the same couloure & complexion as all the Americans are, which dwell vnder the Equinoctiall line.
1633 W. Drummond Entertainm. Charles King of Great Brit. 7 Her attyre was of divers coloured feathers, which shew her to bee an American.
1686 S. Sewall Let. 15 Feb. in Let.-bk. (1886) I. 23 The Americans wellfare here..may be much forwarded by the ministers and Christians in England helping together.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 56. ¶1 The Americans believe that all Creatures have Souls.
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. II. 417 Amazing accounts are given of the persevering speed of the Americans.
1811 J. Black tr. A. von Humboldt Polit. Ess. New Spain II. 96 The zea maize was the only farinaceous gramen cultivated by the Americans before the arrival of the Europeans.
1841 J. F. Cooper Deerslayer (1854) x. 171 Beauty among the women of the aboriginal Americans..is not uncommon.
1888 Science 9 Nov. 228/1 What Dr. Brinton said about the difference between the character and color of the hair of Mongolians and Americans needs no further refutation.
1945 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 72 11 The indigenous Americans, as a general thing, did not carry on an extensive agriculture.
1986 R. B. Morrison & C. R. Wilson Native Peoples iii. 49 It is quite possible that the first Americans were adapted to the North Pacific Coast rather than to the interior.
2005 C. Mann 1491 ii. v. 154 All of them had either Folsom or Clovis points, which convinced many archaeologists that the Clovis people, the earlier of the two, must have been the original Americans.
1568—2005(Hide quotations)
2.
a. Originally: a native or inhabitant of America, esp. of the British colonies in North America, of European descent (now hist.). Now chiefly: a native or citizen of the United States. Cf. also Latin American n., North American n., South American n., etc.
1648 T. Gage (title) The English-American his travail by sea and land: or, a new survey of the West India's.
1691 C. Mather Triumphs Reformed Relig. in Amer. 88 A rude American.
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi sig. C4/1, One poor feeble American,..capable of touching this Work no otherwise than in a Digression.
1741 G. Whitfield Let. 23 Dec. (1772) III. 432, I now have forty-nine children under my care, twenty-three English, ten Scots, four Dutch, five French, seven Americans.
1766 B. Gale in Philos. Trans. 1765 (Royal Soc.) 55 198 Paying quit-rents to monopolizers of large tracts of land, is not well relished by Americans.
1775 Johnson Taxation No Tyranny 13 That the Americans are able to bear taxation is indubitable.
1809 E. A. Kendall Trav. Northern Parts U.S. II. lviii. 286 The Americans, that is the subjects of the United States.
1842 Dickens Amer. Notes II. i. 11 Whenever an Englishman would cry ‘All right!’ an American cries ‘Go ahead!’
1882 Cent. Mag. Nov. 26 We Americans are terribly in earnest about making ourselves.
1924 Life & Work Feb. 31/1 A Reserve Fund of 41 million dollars was handed over by the Americans to the Filipinised Government.
1948 William & Mary Q. 3rd Ser. 5 311 Knaves the Americans certainly seemed to be when they objected to the Townshend Duties almost as vehemently as they had to the Stamp Act.
1975 A. A. Thompson Message from Absolom iv. 24 The Americans ate hungrily.
2001 N.Y. Times 1 July viii. 1/3 She was not..a rising young American aided by the United States Tennis Association.
1648—2001(Hide quotations)
b. As the second element of compounds forming nouns with the sense ‘an American of the specified origin or descent’. Cf. African-American n., Irish-American n., Italian–American n., Polish-American n.
1648English-American [see sense A. 2a].
1755 Douglass's Summary State Brit. Settlements N.-Amer. (new ed.) I. 107 In this port the British and French Americans carry on a considerable intercourse of trade.
1787 G. Greive tr. F. J. de Chastellux Trav. N.-Amer. I. 226, I was with..all the French, or Gallo-Americans , at Philadelphia.
1894 Cent. Mag. Apr. 849 The first generations of English-Americans subsisted mainly on maize.
1900 Daily News 15 Aug. 3/1 My opponents were of the hyphenated variety—Dutch-Americans and Irish-Americans predominating.
2006 Time Out N.Y. 8 June 99/3 It's even harder for..a middle-class Filipino-American.
1648—2006(Hide quotations)
†3. An American ship or other vessel. Obs.
1782 T. Pasley Jrnl. 10 Aug. in Private Sea Jrnls. (1931) 266, I discovered a Ship, a Brig, and a Sloop, steering down for the Havana..all Americans.
1790 T. Jefferson Circular to Consuls 26 Aug. in Papers (1965) XVII. 423 We wish you to use your Endeavours that no Vessel enter as an American in the Ports of your District which shall not be truly such.
1817 R. Southey in Q. Rev. 17 2 He had sailed in an American to Manilla.
1864 Let. 20 June in T. S. Williams & P. L. Simmonds Eng. Commerc. Corr. 275 That vessel however being an American..was almost uninsurable here.
1894 Times 10 July 11/1 When the vessels next met the American was far enough ahead to throw about on the Britannia's weather bow.
1782—1894(Hide quotations)
4. The variety of English used in the United States; American English.
1787 G. Greive tr. F. J. de Chastellux Trav. N.-Amer. II. 264 You speak American well.
1803 J. Davis Trav. U.S.A. 139 What do you think of the style of Johnson, the Reviewer? It is not English that he writes, Sir; it is American.
1869 P. Gillmore Accessible Field Sports 19 But it was evident I was not boss. [Note] American for ‘master’.
1889 R. Kipling From Sea to Sea (1899) xvii. 368 The American I have heard up to the present, is a tongue as distinct from English as Patagonian.
1919 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. 26 American thus shows its character in a constant experimentation,..a steady reaching out for new and vivid forms.
1966 Listener 2 June 810/3 We have tried..to translate from French into American and vice versa.
2000 T. Clancy Bear & Dragon xlvi. 699 A lifelong USN sailor, he didn't like depending on anything except people who spoke American and wore Navy Blue.
1787—2000(Hide quotations)
5. Brit. In pl. Stocks or shares in American companies or enterprises.
1886 Times Reg. Events in 1885 p. cliii, People..who..had come to believe that ‘Americans’ would never advance any more.
1897 Daily News 7 Sept. 7/1 A further rise in Americans.
1905 Daily Report 22 Mar. 1/2 Yankees. As predicted yesterday, Americans have quickly recovered their reaction.
1970 Times 25 July 21/4 Among the Americans Texaco rose 2½ to 72½.
1886—1970(Hide quotations)
B. adj.
1.
a. Of or relating to (any part of) the Americas.In later use sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense B. 2, except in scientific contexts. Cf. Latin American adj., North American adj., South American adj., etc.
1580 A. Munday Zelauto 38 Report running through..the golden American countrey, and the rytch inhabited Islandes of the East and West Indias,..of a gallant and renowned Mayden Queene.
1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 190 Religion stands on tip-toe in our land, Readie to pass to the American strand.
1693 C. Mather Wonders Invisible World 11 The first planters of these Colonies..embraced a voluntary exile in a squalid, horrid, American desart.
1740 Oath 10 Nov. in W. Stephens Jrnl. Proc. Georgia (1742) II. 664 Ships..come up to the Town, where the Worm (which is the plague of the American seas) does not eat.
1834 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 21 June 168/1 A bird, called the partridge,..is found all over the American continent.
1903 Science (N.Y.) 5 June 892/2 The International Union of the American Republics, popularly known as the Pan-American Union.
1956 H. W. Anderson Dis. Fruit Crops vii. 265 Peach yellows is undoubtedly of American origin.
2005 J. Diamond Collapse (2006) vi. 197 Iceland lies in the North Atlantic Ocean about 600 miles west of Norway, on what is called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the American and Eurasian continental plates spread.
1580—2005(Hide quotations)
b. Of, relating to, or designating the indigenous inhabitants of (any part of) the Americas; of, relating to, or designating American Indians. Now chiefly with modifying word, as early, original, indigenous, etc.
1611 E. Aston tr. J. de Léry Certaine Things conc. Amer. in J. Boemus Manners, Lawes, & Customes 496 The ornaments, bracelets, and all the other compleat attire of the American women.
1734 tr. Ceremonies & Relig. Customs Var. Nations III. iii. 17 Most of the American Priests are at the same Time Physicians.
1865 J. Lubbock Prehist. Times xii. 414 The American skulls are characterised by a flattened occiput.
1893 Polit. Sci. Q. 8 163 This is the first general study..of early American peoples from the vantage ground of the theory of evolution.
1934 A. Dickerson Orozco Frescoes at Dartmouth 6 (caption) Into the Valley of Mexico, cradle of the indigenous American civilization.
2004 San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News (Nexis) 13 May 3 It's important for non-native people to come and check real American culture and appreciate the beauty.
1611—2004(Hide quotations)
c. Of, designating, or belonging to any American Indian language, or such languages collectively.
1625 P. Heylyn Μικρόκοσμος (rev. ed.) 790 Iucutan..in the American tongue, is, what say you.
1689 I. Mather Brief Relation State New Eng. 16 In an Indian Town..was an Englishman, who being skilful in the American Language, Preached the Gospel to them in their own Tongue.
1744 Let. to H. S. A. M. of —— in D. Malcolm Lett., Ess. & Tracts Antiq. Great Brit. & Irel. 5 The Phraseology of this American sentence seems to be precisely the same with that of the Ancient Scots.
1765 S. Smith Hist. Nova-Cæsaria i. 13 The Chinese manner of writing in Hieroglyphics, sufficiently agrees with the American dialect.
1839 Penny Cycl. XIII. 320 The singular congruity in structure between all the American languages, from the northern to the southern extremity of the continent.
1869 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 1 57 A few scholars have labored unprofitably to extract Semitic and Turanian roots from American words whose structure they had taken no pains to analyse.
1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. vi. 102 Some American languages have a whole series of laterals, with differences of position, glottalization, or nasalization.
2002 Jrnl. Anthropol. Res. 58 464 Uto-Aztecan and Tanoan may not resemble each other more than they do several other American language families.
1625—2002(Hide quotations)
d. Designating animals and plants native to or originating in America, chiefly to distinguish them from similar or related species native to Britain or the Old World, as American aloe, crow, marmot, etc. See also Special uses 3b.American bittern, elm, leopard, masterwort, ostrich, plaice, robin, etc.: see the second element.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. 150 The American Ostrich [L. Struthiocamelus Americanus]..is somewhat less than the African. Their Legs are long, the lower about a foot and a half.
1763 R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. I. 41 Mr. Catesby in his natural history of Carolina calls this the American Bison; and says it is the only species of the Wild Cow kind known in North America.
1771 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. II. 104 The red maple Acer rubrum and the American elm Ulmus Americana began to flower at present; and some of the latter kind were already in full blossom.
1833 Penny Cycl. I. 446/1 The American aloe..yields, when wounded, an abundance of sweet fluid.
1862 C. A. Johns Brit. Birds 415 The American Bittern..seems to differ in no material respect from the European species.
1890 E. B. Custer Following Guidon 201 These great black blotches against the faultless sky were my introduction to the American buffalo.
1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ Birds Every Child should Know i. 5 When our American robin comes out of the turquoise blue egg that his devoted mother has warmed into life, he usually finds three or four baby brothers and sisters.
1939 E. A. Bessey Text-bk. Mycol. (new ed.) viii. 198 E. parasitica is the fungus which has destroyed nearly all the trees of the American chestnut (Castanea dentata ) since the fungus was introduced from Eastern Asia on nursery stock about 1900.
1972 Star–News (Pasadena, Calif.) 29 Jan. 13/1 Marmota monax is the technical name for groundhog, also known as woodchuck or American marmot.
2005 Connecticut Wildlife Jan.–Feb. 11/1 Slightly smaller than the American crow, the fish crow is best identified by its short, nasal ‘cahr, cahr’ voice.
1678—2005(Hide quotations)
2.
a. Originally: of, relating to, or characteristic of the European (esp. British) colonies in North America or their inhabitants. Now chiefly: of, relating to, or characteristic of the United States or its inhabitants.
1616 T. Scot Philomythie (title-page) Monsier Pandorsvs Waldolynnatvs, that merry American Philosopher, or the Wiseman of the New World.
1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 23 We make it an Article of our American Creed.
1680 A. Sall Let. 26 Oct. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) V. 220 Our endevours to convert the natives of this countrie upon maxims like those of the American planters.
1716 C. Mather Let. 6 June in Harvard Stud. Philol. & Lit. (1897) 5 63, I believe ye American puritanism to be much of a piece with Frederician pietism.
1775 Johnson (title) Taxation no tyranny, an answer to the resolutions and address of the American Congress.
1808 H. Gray Lett. from Canada (1809) 275 As we approached the American boundary, we found a few settlements.
1839 Southern Lit. Messenger 5 5/2 He was proscribed for his long and faithful services in the American consulate.
1883 Daily News 14 May 5/8 The plain evening dress which bespeaks the American Minister everywhere.
1925 A. Huxley Along Road i. 6 In a Montmartre boîte..sat three young American girls.
1947 William & Mary Q. 3rd Ser. 4 302 The English relied on military success in America to discourage France from intervening and recognizing American independence.
1970 Daily Tel. 13 Mar. (Colour Suppl.) 47/1 He was not hot-gospelling for pop or for the American way of life.
2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 28 Mar. h2/1 France has long limited American imports through quotas.
1616—2007(Hide quotations)
b. Of, designating, or belonging to the English language as used in the United States (or formerly, in Britain's North American colonies).See also American English n.
1650 Exercitation Answered 26 Under Usurpation (he saies, meaning the present Government in the American tongue) we can expect no settlement.
1740 Oath 10 Nov. in W. Stephens Jrnl. Proc. Georgia (1742) II. 670 The American Dialect distinguishes Land into Pine, Oak and Hickory.
1789 N. Webster Diss. Eng. Lang. i. 22 Numerous local causes..will introduce new words into the American tongue.
1800 Monthly Mag. & Amer. Rev. July i. i. 11 (title) On the Scheme of an American Language.
1842 Dickens Amer. Notes I. viii. 301 The Presidential housemaids have..an ample amount of ‘compensation’: which is the American word for salary, in the case of all public servants.
1874 Standard 14 Nov. 3 New words with which the American vocabulary has lately been enriched; ‘to burgle’, meaning to injure a person by breaking into his or her house.
1925 G. P. Krapp Eng. Lang. in Amer. I. 40 It is..much easier for an American to call up in his mind a kind of image of the Eastern and Southern types of American speech than of the Western or General type.
1960 A. J. Bronstein Pronunc. Amer. Eng. vii.141 (heading) The tongue and lip positions of American vowels.
2002 New Yorker 18 Nov. 99/2 There is a lot that shows off some of the most terrifyingly awful prose in the American language.
1650—2002(Hide quotations)
c. As the second element of compounds in the sense ‘American of the specified origin or descent’. Cf. African-American adj., Afro-American adj., Africo-American adj., Italian–American adj., Polish-American adj.
1761 Compl. Hist. Present War 2 In the year 1749, some english american traders commenced a traffic with the indians, on the banks of the river Ohio.
1837 R. Chambers Hist. Eng. Lang. & Lit. (ed. 4) 237 The papers referring to Dutch-American traditions were peculiarly relished, on account of the new and grotesque images which they brought before the mind.
1927 F. M. Thrasher Gang ii. xii. 208 Most observers agree that the tongs are the product of the Chinese-American community.
1978 Amer. Ethnol. 5 27 The absence of kin in the local community no doubt stimulated the development of..voluntary mutual aid associations in Japanese-American communities.
2006 Custom Home (Nexis) 1 Apr. Constructed by Danish-American craftsmen in traditional tongue-and-groove joinery, the wood worktops come in three staved variations.
1761—2006(Hide quotations)
d. U.S. Of a horse or cow: originating in the eastern states, esp. as opposed to the southwest, being typically of superior quality and relatively large in size. Now hist.
1837 Diplom. Corr. Texas (1908) I. 187 A large number of fine American horses..which there is no doubt had been stolen from citizens of Texas.
a1861 T. Winthrop John Brent (1862) ii. 14 He was an American horse,—so they distinguish in California one brought from the old States.
1875 Cimmaron (New Mexico) News & Press 7 Aug. 4/4 Texas cows, $12 to $16 per head; American cows, $25 to $50 per head.
1940 E. Fergusson Our Southwest 62 Mounts ranged from nimble Spanish ponies to big American horses.
1837—1940(Hide quotations)
Special uses
S1. With nouns and adjectives designating a person or people of a specified origin or descent residing in America or the United States. Cf senses A. 2b, B. 2c.
1764 London Mag. 33 78/2 The failings of these people, (the American French) are counterbalanced by many excellent good qualities.
1836 H. Bokum Stranger's Gift 30 The state of the great majority of the American Germans does not admit of any extended comparison with the general character of either America or Germany.
1868 Colburn's United Service Mag. Jan. 123 The only way to prevent its spreading was to deal as our forefathers would have dealt with the American or American-Irish adventurers.
1906 J. Joyce Let. 25 Sept. (1966) II. 167 There are ten times as many Irish and American-Irish here than Scandinavians.
2003 New Yorker 10 Nov. 46/3 An obscure American-Hungarian mathematician and demographer.
1764—2003(Hide quotations)
S2. With participles.
American-born adj.
1777 London Mag. Jan. 299/1 The American born subjects shall be permitted to enter into any of the provincial corps in his majesty's service.
1856 N. & Q. 5 Jan. 9/2 In a kind of feud now existing between American-born and foreign-born citizens, the former are said to profess Nativism.
1963 L. Jones Blues People ii. 15 With no native or tribal references..the American-born slave had only the all-encompassing mores of his white master.
2004 New Yorker 15 Mar. 74/3 The American-born children of the first generation of exiles..are less bitter than their parents.
1777—2004(Hide quotations)
American-built adj.
1740 K. William Coll. Papers & Other Tracts 34 The Colliers and Coasting Vessels, were American-built.
1878 A. L. Perry Elem. Polit. Econ. 556 American-built but foreign-owned ships.
1966 Economist 10 Sept. 1040/2 It began offering a 5-year, 50,000-mile guarantee for..its American-built cars.
2007 Kent & Sussex Courier (Nexis) 20 Apr. 22 He found his squadron's American-built Tomahawks were no match for the German Me109s.
1740—2007(Hide quotations)
American-made adj.
1812 Weekly Reg. (Baltimore) 22 Feb. 462/1 Nineteen twentieths of the people still have an impression that American made goods, no matter of what kind they are, must be sold dearer than the imported.
1915 ‘B. M. Bower’ Jean of Lazy A xx. 265 He smiled..and lifted his American-made Stetson a few inches above his head.
2000 Plumbing Mag. May–June 10/3 The saw has..an American-made 140mm blade.
1812—2000(Hide quotations)
S3.
a.
American bar n. (chiefly outside the United States) a bar that is American in style or serves American-style drinks, (in early use) one where customers sit at the counter.
[1854 Times 15 Apr. 9/6 They have already established an American line of coaches to the bay [sc. Melbourne] and American bar-rooms.]
1856 Harper's Mag. Sept. 564/2 It [sc. the fête ground of the Bois de Boulogne] has been planted and laid out into arbors, with dancing ground, with quiet temples of refreshment, with brilliant billiard saloons, with American ‘bars’, etc.
1913 G. W. Hills John Bull Ltd. 229 [Many English hotels] proudly bear aloft the sign of relief yclept ‘American Bar’; but sign and beverages are alike delusions.
1990 Illustr. London News Summer 94/1 (advt.) Entirely renovated. Two restaurants with terrace by the lake, American bar, piano bar, cable TV with 22 channels.
1856—1990(Hide quotations)
American breakfast n. a cooked breakfast of a kind originating in the United States, typically including bacon, ham, eggs, pancakes, and waffles.
1799 Monthly Mag. Feb. 128/2 An American breakast is even proverbial for its variety: I seldom sat down to this meal, but in addition to the usual fare of tea and coffee, fish, beef-steaks, ham, cheese, &c. were served up.
1903 Janesville (Wisconsin) Daily Gaz. 23 July 3/3 The substantial American breakfast with plenty of everything good from coffee to buckwheat cakes.
2001 Scotl. on Sunday (Nexis) 28 Oct. 46, I love American breakfasts, corn beef hash; eggs Benedict; waffles with crispy bacon; pancakes with maple syrup.
1799—2001(Hide quotations)
American Century n. (also with lower-case initial in the second element) (chiefly with the) the 20th century, regarded as dominated or influenced by the United States.Popularized by the essay The American Century by Henry Luce (1898–1967): see quot. 1941.
1935 G. Stein in Choate Literary Mag. Feb. 8 The United States had the first instance of..Twentieth Century writing... The Twentieth Century has become the American Century.
1941 H. Luce Amer. Cent in Life 17 Feb. 64/2 The world of the 20th Century..must be to a significant degree an American Century.
1974 A. Ginsberg Let. 8 Sept. in A. Ginsberg & L. Ginsberg Family Business (2001) 373, I..think that the American Century has been a piece of egotism and violence equal to any in world's history.
2005 C. Stross Accelerando ii. 44 Pam is..a member of the first generation to grow up after the end of the American century.
1935—2005(Hide quotations)
American cheese n. orig. and chiefly U.S. (a) a mild Cheddar cheese made in the United States; (b) a kind of processed cheese (usually in thin slices) made from a blend of different cheeses, typically including Cheddar (now the usual sense).
1763 Pennsylvania Gaz. 8 Sept. 1/2 For American Cheese, Four pence Half-penny, by the Pound Weight.
1879 Echo 18 Oct. 1/5 Fears that the makers of American cheese..would oust our home Cheddars from the position of supremacy they had so long held.
1911 Arizona Cook Bk. 99 One half-pound American cheese.
2006 Philadelphia Aug. 133/1 Good-quality grilled steak grilled to order and sandwiched around American cheese in a slightly crusty torpedo roll.
1763—2006(Hide quotations)
American Civil War n. †(a) the American War of Independence (1775–83) (obs.); (b) the war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865 between the eleven seceding Southern states (the Confederacy) and the remaining (northern) states (the Union).
1775 W. H. Drayton in R. W. Gibbes Documentary Hist. Amer. Revolution (1855) I. 109 Let it be delivered down to posterity, that the American civil war, broke out on the 19th day of April, 1775. An epoch, that in all probability will mark the declension of the British Empire!
1809 T. Campbell Gertrude of Wyoming 51 Alluding to the miseries that attended the American civil war.
1861 Times 3 May 9/2 Lord John Russell prays..fervently that we may keep well out of the American Civil War.
1939 H. H. Horne in J. N. Andrews & C. A. Marsden Tomorrow in Making v. 70 There are those who hold that the American Civil War might have been prevented.
2002 Herald-Sun (Durham, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 27 Oct. e1 The N.C. Museum of History [is] recreating the American Civil War battle of New Bern.
1775—2002(Hide quotations)
American cloth n. (a) (chiefly Brit.) a cotton cloth with a glossy, waterproofed surface (in the United States chiefly called enamelled cloth); (b) cotton cloth originally but in later use not necessarily made in the United States, traded in the Levant and Africa; cf. Americani n.
1851 Official Catal. Great Exhib. V. 1458/1 The lining [of a buggy] is of American cloth, of a dark-green colour.
1896 C. T. C. James Yoke of Freedom 85 Not a single ring of stickiness was to be found upon the American-cloth table-cover.
1915 H. G. Dwight Constantinople xvi. 474 The coarse cotton used in most of the work is known in the Levant as American cloth.
1972 Jrnl. Afr. Hist. 13 583 The Arab, Juma Mericani, traded ‘American’ cloth in central Luba.
1991 Jrnl. Design Hist. 4 237/2 For the other room a cottage dining-table and six cane seat chairs were offered with an easy chair in American cloth.
1851—1991(Hide quotations)
American depositary receipt n. (also American depository receipt) U.S. Stock Market a certificate representing shares in a foreign company which are held by an American bank and may be traded on U.S. stock markets; abbreviated ADR.
1927 Washington Post 13 Apr. 14 Merrill Lynch & Co. will offer..250,000 American depository receipts for the ordinary shares of Selfridge Provincial Stores.
2006 Baltimore Sun 20 Aug. c3/4 Three of the fund's top portfolio holdings also available in the U.S. as American depositary receipts (ADRs).
1927—2006(Hide quotations)
American dream n. (also American Dream) (with the) the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
[a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. xxiii. 439 The fashion and home magazines..have prepared thousands of Americans..for the possible rise of fortune that is the universal American dream and hope.]
1916 Chicago Tribune 7 Feb. 6 If the American idea, the American hope, the American dream, and the structures which Americans have erected are not worth fighting for to maintain and protect, they were not worth fighting for to establish.
1931 J. T. Adams Epic of Amer. 410 If the American dream is to come true and to abide with us, it will, at bottom, depend on the people themselves.
2002 N.Y. Times 28 Apr. 12/2 Many claim..rights to housing, education, health care and welfare checks, yet they are denied the up-by-the-bootstraps right to work that..has always underpinned the immigrant's hope for access to the American dream.
1916—2002(Hide quotations)
American Empire n. (also with lower-case initial in the second element) (a) an empire in America; (b) the United States of America, esp. viewed as an imperialistic state, either in possessing territories overseas or in exerting power and influence beyond its borders; American imperialism.
1709 J. Oldmixon Hist. Addr. xii. 220 A Person that hath not any legal Pretence to the Crown of any Kingdom whatsoever, not so much as an African or American Empire.
1780 ‘Integer’ Lett. to High & Mighty United States Amer. iii. 24, I am not likely to succeed in my application for the office of accomptant general to the grand American Empire.
1912 Times 7 Aug. 5/4 The shadow of sovereignty that has existed in the Panama nation heretofore now passes away, and the Isthmian State becomes..a section of the American Empire, with restricted home rule.
1954 Hispanic Amer. Hist. Rev. 34 560 The land-minded citizens of the new and somewhat shaky North American republic were thrusting westward into inevitable collision with Spain's American empire.
1992 R. Poirier in J. Parini Gore Vidal 230 Roosevelt had already helped set the course of American empire as McKinley's assistant secretary of the Navy.
2007 Caribbean Today (Electronic ed.) Mar. 4 Chavez said the Caribbean..did not know where it stood and unless there was unity the region would remain under the control of ‘the American Empire’.
1709—2007(Hide quotations)
American football n. a sport originating in the United States, based on rugby football and played by two teams of eleven players on a field marked out in the form of a gridiron, points being scored from touchdowns and field goals.In North America known simply as football.
1879 H. Chadwick (title) Handbook of winter sports. Embracing: skating (on ice and on rollers,) rink-ball, curling, ice-boating, and American football.
1943 Times 8 May 2/6 American football is a dangerous game and the players are suitably padded, each man's equipment weighing about 10lb.
1997 E. M. Kramer Modern/Postmodern p. xi, In American football, measurements are laboriously and religiously taken so that statistics can be calculated for every conceivable aspect of the game.
1879—1997(Hide quotations)
American footballer n. chiefly Brit. a person who plays American football.
1897 Bristol Times & Mirror 11 Dec. 5/6 The American footballer..has usually distinguished himself by the performance of deeds which should secure him the Victoria Cross.
1955 Times 14 Jan. 5/7 Protective clothing of the type worn by American footballers hardly seemed justified.
2006 Financial Times (Nexis) 26 Aug. 16 With their helmets and padding, American footballers crash into each other with alarming force.
1897—2006(Hide quotations)
American leather n. chiefly Brit. (now rare) = American cloth n. (a).
[1853 Times 9 Nov. 2/2 (advt.) To coachmakers... American leather cloth, 45 inches wide, 2s. 6d. a yard.]
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Seating, horse-hair fabric, American leather, or other materials, made for covering the cushions of chairs, couches, &c.
1893 G. Allen Scallywag I. 97 That peculiar sort of deep-brown oil-cloth which is known..as American leather.
1914 R. C. Bosanquet Days in Attica 5 The pillow should have a removable outer cover of American leather or dark washing material.
1858—1914(Hide quotations)
American legion n. see legion n. 5.
American Native n. (also with lower-case initial in the second element) = American Indian n.In earlier use prob. not a fixed collocation.
1648 T. Shepard Clear Sun-shine of Gospel 38, I confesse it passeth my skill to tell how the Gospel should be generally received by these American Natives.
1765 Mem. Chevalier Pierpoint IV. 96 Ferdinand and his queen Isabella were in the utmost surprise, to see him return at the end of nine months, with some American natives of Hispaniola.
1823 Missionary Herald (Boston) Dec. 397/2 The singular anomaly, amongst the American natives, of a people dedicated to..making propitiatory offerings of human victims.
2002 Wicazo Sa Rev. 17 206 It covers only American Natives and does not extend to ‘other Others’, like the Greenlanders.
1648—2002(Hide quotations)
American oilcloth n. chiefly Brit. (now rare) = American cloth n. (a).
1869 E. Lott Grand Pacha's Cruise on Nile I. 286 Several sheets of American oil cloth to place upon the damp ground, with fine mats to lay over them.
1904 E. Nesbit Phoenix & Carpet x. 190 The marble-patterned American oil-cloth which careful housewives use to cover dressers and kitchen tables.
1963 A. Clarke Flight to Afr. 33 The kitchen table, American oil-cloth on it.
1869—1963(Hide quotations)
American organ n. chiefly Brit. a reed organ in which the air is drawn inwards to the reeds by means of bellows, instead of being driven outwards as in the harmonium proper; a melodeon.
1869 Musical Times 14 99/1 (advt.) The depth, purity, sweetness, and volume of tone, and the beauty and variety of its stop combinations, make the American organ a more desirable instrument than either a piano or a harmonium.
1943 T. Beecham Mingled Chime ii. 14, I..much preferred to be at home, especially in the music room where had now been installed a pipe organ, an American organ, a concert grand piano and musical boxes of every kind.
1991 M. Nicholson Martha Jane & Me (1992) viii. 70 There was an American organ, a harmonium, in the room.
1869—1991(Hide quotations)
American plan n. N. Amer. the method or practice at a hotel of charging a rate inclusive of all meals (cf. modified American plan n. at modified adj. and n. Special uses); opposed to European plan.
1848 De Bow's Rev. Mar. 232 On the American plan, the student being required to board in a hotel provided for him, must board there at a fixed price.
1914 Maclean's Mag. June 109/3 Windsor Hotel..Rates: American Plan, $1.50–$2.50. European Plan, 75c. to $1.50.
2004 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 29 July b1 The Athenaeum Hotel..follows the American plan. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included in the room price.
1848—2004(Hide quotations)
American Revolution n. the revolt of the thirteen American colonies against British rule in the late 18th cent., culminating in the American War of Independence (1775–83) and ultimately leading to the formation of the United States; the American War of Independence itself.
1779 U.S. Mag. Mar. (table of contents) Observations on the American Revolution.
1851 S. Town Grammar School Reader ii. 287 Berthier..fought in the American Revolution with Lafayette.
1898 Cent. Mag. Jan. 333 A pair of John Fiske's delightful volumes upon the American Revolution.
1993 Beaver Oct.–Nov. 54/2 The title character..is a Loyalist fighting in the American Revolution.
2005 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 11 Sept. 25 The American Revolution started with a demand for no taxation without representation.
1779—2005(Hide quotations)
American sheeting n. now hist. coarse cotton cloth made in America, esp. as exported to or traded in East Africa; cf. American cloth n. (b), Americani n.
1840 Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pa.) 26 May 4/4 A number of English papers admit that American sheeting is more popular than English in India.
1901 Geogr. Jrnl. 17 75 The value of the import [to Addis Ababa] during the year considerably exceeds that of the exports; the staple imports being American sheeting.
1986 Amer. Hist. Rev. 91 297 They [sc. Indian and Arab merchants in the Majeerteen Sultanate] sold..coarse white American sheeting, blue-striped turbans, and small bars of iron.
1840—1986(Hide quotations)
American Sign Language n. (also with lower-case initials in the second and third elements) a form of sign language developed in the early 19th cent. for the use of the deaf in the United States; abbreviated ASL; cf. Ameslan n.
1900 Assoc. Rev. 2 71 The American sign language is the most complete which exists, and..rather difficult to acquire; so that it would take a deaf person a considerable time to thoroughly master it.
1996 A. Walker & P. Shipman Wisdom of Bones xiii. 218 American Sign Language is not a manual translation of English. Its syntax, grammar, and vocabulary do not coincide with that of English.
1900—1996(Hide quotations)
American Standard Version n. an English translation of the Bible first published in the United States in 1901, based on the Revised Version with the incorporation of additional work by American scholars; abbreviated ASV.
1899 Outlook 30 Dec. 1031/2 The forthcoming ‘American Standard Version of the Revised Bible’.
1946 Times 12 Dec. 3/5 (advt.) It is a revision of the American Standard Version published in 1901.
2002 Sun Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi) (Nexis) 23 Aug. b1 The Revised Standard Version, published in 1952,..is a revision of the American Standard Version.
1899—2002(Hide quotations)
American-style adj. of a style characteristic of or associated with the United States.
1875 Davenport (Iowa) Daily Gaz. (Electronic text) 28 Apr. (advt.) Our American style pickles.
1935 Charleroi (Pa.) Mail 13 Aug. 4/1 Roads lined with more than 2,000 new American-style homes.
2005 Scotsman (Nexis) 21 May 27 The food..comes in huge, American-style portions.
1875—2005(Hide quotations)
American supper n. Brit. a social function held esp. to raise money to which the guests contribute by bringing food and drink to share.
1916 Times 31 Jan. 13/1 £36 6s. 6d.—Proceeds of American supper at Sproatley Institute, Yorks.
1996 Motoring & Leisure (CSMA) Feb. 56/4 Clubnight is at the Barrow Cricket Club... (American supper, so please bring a contribution to the food.)
1916—1996(Hide quotations)
American tea n. Brit. = American supper n.
1915 Times 12 May 13/3 Contributions for Serbia... Col. J. Webber: ‘American Tea’ at Newbridge.
2004 Gloucs. Echo (Nexis) 28 Sept. 16 The group met for a bring and share American tea.
1915—2004(Hide quotations)
American tournament n. Sport (chiefly Brit.) a tournament in which each competitor plays each of the others in turn; opposed to knockout.
1878 Times 7 Dec. 11/6 Billiards. The interest in the American tournament..continues to increase, the result of yesterday's play having in no way altered the position of the three leaders.
1937 Math. Gaz. 21 295 An alternative way of giving the whole of the draw for an American tournament is illustrated by the following diagram in which letters denote teams and numbers refer to rounds in which two teams meet.
2007 Financial Times (Nexis) 17 Feb. 12 The mantelpiece has on it a silver cup won in an American tournament at our tennis club.
1878—2007(Hide quotations)
American Way n. (also with lower-case initial in the second element) (with the) a method, or a manner of living or behaving, regarded as unique to or characteristic of the United States; the American way of life.
1883 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Gaz. 29 June (heading) 1/5 The American Way.
1916 L. S. Gannett in A. H. Fried Restoration of Europe Foreword p. xiv, Sit by and accept wars as..inevitable? That is not the American way.
1961 R. Gover One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding 100 People who are working..to save the world for the American Way and keep her safe from communist dictatorship.
2003 Daily Mail (Nexis) 11 July 48 The Hulk..[is] not a patriot out to defend the American Way.
1883—2003(Hide quotations)
b. In the names of plants and animals.
American Beauty n. (more fully American beauty rose) a variety of cultivated rose with deep red petals.
1887 Columbus (Ohio) Hort. Soc. Jrnl. 2 43 The American Beauty is one of the finest introductions of late years.
1904 N.Y. Times 24 Nov. 14 A box of thirty-nine American Beauty roses.
2001 J. Traig & J. Balmain Beauty 22 Red ones [sc. rose petals] are best..; consult the gardener before you whack his or her prized American Beauties.
1887—2001(Hide quotations)
American bison n. the bison native to North America, Bos bison; cf. bison n. 2, buffalo n.1 1c.
[1731 M. Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina I. p. xxvii (heading) Bison Americanus.]
1763 R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. I. 41 Mr. Catesby in his natural history of Carolina calls this the American Bison; and says it is the only species of the Wild Cow kind known in North America.
1846 Southern Q. Rev. Jan. 5 The American bison, besides the conformation of the head, and other important anatomical differences, has a pair of ribs more than domestic cattle.
1965 D. Morris Mammals 406 The American Bison is a striking animal with its huge, low-slung head and massive hump, the latter supported by vertebral extensions.
2011 Washington Post (Nexis) 13 Sept. e2 Environmental authorities in the United States and Mexico are working with the Nature Conservancy to reintroduce the American bison, which was on the verge of extinction in the 19th century.
1763—2011(Hide quotations)
American blackbird n. any of various grackles and other birds of the New World family Icteridae; (formerly) spec. the common grackle, Quiscalus quiscula; cf. blackbird n. 2a.
1835 Penny Cycl. IV. 479/1 The American blackbirds, so destructive of the young maize-crop, are of a different race [from the European blackbird].
1897 ‘M. Twain’ More Tramps Abroad I. 317 In..his cunning way of canting his head to one side upon occasion, he reminds one of the American blackbird.
1951 Auk 68 411 A careful study of the American blackbird family (Icteridae) during the past several years.
2001 Nat. New Eng. Fall 52 One of 94 species of American blackbirds, the bobolink, migrates seasonally through the forests.
1835—2001(Hide quotations)
American blight n. the woolly aphid, Eriosoma lanigerum, which infests the bark of apple trees and related plants.
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. I. vi. 196 The greatest enemy of this tree, and which has been known in this country [sc. England] only about twenty years, is the apple-aphis, called by some Coccus, and by others the American blight.
1897 Science 10 Sept. 388/1 Of the prominent European injurious insects..but three are said to have come from America; the grape-vine Phylloxera.., the woolly root-louse of the apple or ‘American blight’.., and the Mediterranean flour moth.
1953 Winnipeg (Manitoba) Free Press 5 Aug. 2/2 American blight is an apple tree pest which can be eliminated only by spraying.
1992 M. Gratwick Crop Pests in U.K. xiv. 78/2 This aphid originated in the eastern part of North America and is sometimes known as American blight.
1815—1992(Hide quotations)
American crocodile n. †(a) an armadillo (obs.); †(b) the American alligator, Alligator mississippiensis (obs.); (c) a neotropical crocodile, Crocodylus acutus, with a long tapering snout, found from Florida and Mexico to Venezuela and Peru.
1678 J. P. tr. J. Johnstone Descr. Nature Four-footed Beasts iii. 92/2 He is fourefooted, covered all over, tail and all with a hide like the slough of a Serpent, called the American-Crocodile, betwixt white, and ash-colour, but inclining more to white, like a Barbed war-horse, as big as an ordinary Dog, harmles, burrowing himself in the earth, like the Conies.
1733 tr. N. A. Pluche Spectacle de la Nature (ed. 2) xiii. 153 You mean the American Crocodile.
1851 De Bow's Rev. July 52, I shall now proceed to..other lower orders of animals, and the most prominent is the Alligator, or American Crocodile, sometimes called Lacerta Alligator.
1953 H. S. Zim & H. M. Smith Reptiles & Amphibians iv. 114 American crocodile is smaller, thinner, more agile than the alligator.
1991 Nature Conservancy May–June 28/2 This single island [sc. Key Largo] supports four globally endangered species—American crocodile, Schaus's swallowtail butterfly, and the Key Largo wood rat and cotton mouse.
1678—1991(Hide quotations)
American eagle n. the bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, a North American sea eagle with a white head and neck; a representation of this eagle as the national emblem of the United States (also fig., symbolizing the United States).
1782 Jrnl. Congr. 7 395 The escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed proper, holding in his dexter talon an olive branch and in his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his beak a scroll inscribed with this motto ‘E pluribus Unum.’
1833 H. Barnard in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1918) 13 356 The Union badge is an American eagle mounted upon black with a small tassell.
1849 Knickerbocker 34 150/2 While he was a-talking about the American eagle, a tolerable-sized bird of that specie come and lit upon his crown.
1919 Mr. Punch's Hist. Great War 20 The American Eagle is not the Eagle we are up against.
1957 Encycl. Brit. VII. 822/2 (caption) American eagle... In the adult of this ‘bald’ sea eagle, the head, neck and tail are white.
1995 New Yorker 5 June 85/1 His earliest commission had been to paint an American eagle over the electric meter in a neighbor's basement.
1782—1995(Hide quotations)
American Eskimo n. chiefly U.S. a breed of dog of the spitz type, distinguished by a dense coat of long white hair, pointed ears, and thick curled tail; a dog of this breed.
1934 Charleston (W. Virginia) Gaz. 24 Feb. 11/4 (advt.) American Eskimo. Spitz pups pedigreed show stock.
1989 N. J. Hofman & C. J. Flamholtz Amer. Eskimo i. 24 American Eskimos are fun dogs to own. Their keen intelligence, and extraordinary desire to please make them adept at learning tricks of all kinds.
2001 J. Waterman Arctic Crossing iii. 235 The compact American Eskimo lapdog is the antithesis of the fractious Eskimo husky.
1934—2001(Hide quotations)
American gooseberry mildew n. Hort. a mildew, Sphaerotheca mors-uvae, which chiefly affects gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes, causing a white powdery coating on young shoots and a brown felty covering on fruit and leaves.
1899 G. Massee Text-bk. Plant Dis. 97 American Gooseberry Mildew... The finer varieties of imported gooseberries have for several years suffered severely in the United States from the effects of a minute fungous parasite.
1942 R. Bush Soft Fruit Growing ix. 82 American gooseberry mildew is the brave New World's gift to the gooseberry grower.
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 4 Nov. (Gardening section) 2 Choose varieties that are resistant to American gooseberry mildew if you don't want to have to spray against this disease.
1899—2006(Hide quotations)
American marmot n. now rare the woodchuck or groundhog, Marmota monax, a heavily built marmot which is widespread in North America.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 463/1 The monax, or American marmot... The bobac, or Polish marmot... The empetra, or Canadian marmot.
1857 F. Gerhard Illinois as it Is 250 We have besides, the red, gray, black, and mottled, together with the flying squirrel,..the American marmot,..and two species of rabbits.
1941 Murrelet 22 16 The amount of blood in the American marmot (Marmota monax monax) differs with the time of year as well as with the degree of dormancy.
2005 Telegram & Gaz. (Mass.) (Nexis) 2 Feb. b1 Groundhog. Woodchuck. American marmot. They're all the same animal, and it's an animal that hibernates early and sleeps deeply.
1797—2005(Hide quotations)
American marmalade n. see marmalade n. 2.
American moss n. the dried stems of Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides, esp. as used in upholstery and craftwork.
1852 Times 16 Nov. 12/1 (advt.) American moss mattresses: a superior article.
1882 J. Smith Dict. Econ. Plants 277 American or New Orleans Moss.
1975 Florence (S. Carolina) Morning News 23 Nov. 10 c/1 Spanish moss is often used commercially, particularly in England, to stuff mattresses and upholstery. The English call it ‘American moss’.
2003 Akron (Ohio) Beacon (Nexis) 28 June e1 Reindeer moss..is not a true moss, nor are club moss and American moss.
1852—2003(Hide quotations)
American olive n. (more fully American olive tree) the devil-wood, Osmanthus americanus (family Oleaceae).
1772 C. Milne Inst. Bot. ii. 239 Olea... Flowers proceed singly from the arm-pits of the leaves. In American olive they are disposed in short clusters.
1866 Land We Love (Charlotte, N. Carolina) May 78 American Olive..is a very fine evergreen, producing clusters of small white flowers.
1923 E.W. Berry Tree Ancestors xxi. 225 The devil-wood (Osmanthus) of our Gulf States, sometimes called the American olive, is also a member of this family [sc. Oleaceae].
2004 D. Gelbert Canine Hiker's Bible 74 The..Osmanthus Trail, named for the American olive tree that grows abundantly on the fringes of the dark lagoon along the trail.
1772—2004(Hide quotations)
† American ox n. Obs. rare the American bison or buffalo, Bison bison.
1744 A. Dobbs Acct. Countries adjoining Hudson's Bay 41 The American Oxen, or Beeves, have a large Bunch upon their Backs.
1851 G. Vasey Deliniations Ox Tribe 61 The different species of the Ox kind may be readily distinguished from the Gayal by the following marks;..the American Ox, by the gibbosity on its back.
1744—1851(Hide quotations)
American saddlebred adj. and n. (also with capital initial in the second element) (a) adj. designating a saddle horse of a breed developed in Kentucky in the 19th cent., which may have either three or five gaits; (b) n. a horse of this type.
1903 Ann. Rep. Bureau Animal Industry 1902 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 75 The history of cavalry service shows no parallel to the continuous fast movement of the cavalry under Morgan and Forest, and this service was rendered chiefly by the American saddle-bred horse.
1913 M. W. Harper Managem. & Breeding Horses ix. 114 The American Saddlebred stallion is rather popular for crossing on common mares to improve the gaits.
1976 Horse & Hound 10 Dec. 73/1 (advt.) 2 beautiful colts to mature 15 hands 2 in by American saddlebred Goldmount Bourbon Genius.
1993 Harrowsmith Feb. 38/1 Marina..rounds the corner of the barn on a handsome American saddlebred horse.
2005 Horse & Rider Apr. 125/3 Horsemen..added in the bloodlines of Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds, Morgans, and American Saddlebreds to produce the Tennessee Walking Horse.
1903—2005(Hide quotations)
American saddle horse n. (also with capital initials in the second and third elements) an American saddlebred horse.In quot. 1835 perh. denoting a generic riding-horse in the United States.
1835 Edinb. Rev. 61 390 She speaks as ill of the filth of London hackney-coaches as of the paces of American saddle-horses.
1853 N.-Y. Daily Times 26 Sept. 2/3 American saddle horses at $95 to $150; common saddle horses at $50 to $80.
2002 Pract. Horseman Jan. 29/2 Quarter Horses have a much higher incidence of clinical navicular disease than larger-footed American Saddle Horses.
1835—2002(Hide quotations)
