American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.pdf

INTRODUCTION

lmost a quarter of a century ago a new dictionary bearing the name

appeared. That book was notable because it did four things and

it did them well. It faithfully recorded the language in easily understood definitions.

It provided guidance toward accuracy, precision, and grace in the use of English

that intelligent people need and seek in a dictionary. It traced, whenever possible,

the development of English words to their origins and keyed many to an Appendix

of Indo-European Roots. And it presented complex lexical data in a typographically

attractive design accented by thousands of photographs and line drawings in spa-

cious margins.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edi-

, builds upon this distinguished, innovative foundation.

The pages of the Third Edition, a lexicon of more than 200,000 boldface

forms, hundreds of thousands of meanings, and nearly 4,000 pieces of art, reflect

the rich and varied texture of American English as it has been used over time by a

broad group of educated speakers. This Dictionary is the product of four years of

work by 175 contributors. In preparing the Dictionary, our editors have had access

to a database containing hundreds of millions of lines of text that could be searched

for any word in context.

The A-Z vocabulary, containing more than 16,000 words and meanings new

to this Edition, is a comprehensive, detailed record of the language. Use of citations

allowed the editors to identify new words and new meanings, identify levels of us-

age, and select more than 4,000 quoted illustrations from nearly 2,000 sources for

use in exemplifying entry words in printed context. The quoted illustrations range

from the works of Shakespeare, Pope, and Ruskin to the works of contemporary

writers such as Joyce Carol Oates, Joan Didion, John Updike, and Tom Wicker.

More than 30,000 nonquoted illustrative examples were also derived from study of

the citations. Finally, the citations were used to determine the status of variants. For

example, 4,000 electronic citations were accrued for the spelling

ambiance

and

about 2,000 were found for the variant

ambience

. On the basis of this 2:1 ratio the

American Heritage

tion

Dictionary gives

ambience

as an "unequal," or less frequently occurring, variant of

If language is a reflection of the ethos of the generation speaking it, then the

new entries and meanings in this Edition have much to say about us and our time.

The great majority of the new words relate to social and life patterns; to the life sci-

ences with an emphasis on health, medicine, genetics, and ecology; and to the phys-

ical sciences with an emphasis on computer technology and electronics, physics,

and astronomy.

The goal of the Third Edition is to provide the user with comprehension and

appreciation of the language in a readable manner. Keeping the needs of the con-

temporary user in mind, we have presented the central and often the most fre-

quently sought meaning of a word first. The definitions are worded in concise,

lucid prose without the specialized terms and abbreviations that make most dictio-

naries forbidding and confusing.

The Third Edition contains more than 500 notes and comments on matters of

grammar, diction, pronunciation, and levels and nuances of usage. Citations were

used in identifying new and evolving usage problems, attesting and evaluating the

currency of certain usages, studying various levels of usage, and evaluating their so-

ciolinguistic implications. The 173-member Usage Panel, with 75 new members

and chaired by Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguist associated with Stanford University,

has made an important contribution to the content and direction of the Usage

Notes through responses to periodic surveys developed by the Chair and the editors.

The Usage Panel of the Third Edition consists chiefly of writers, editors, and schol-

ars, 22 of whom are professors of linguistics or English. Other Panelists occupy dis-

tinguished positions in law, diplomacy, government, business, science and

technology, medicine, and the arts. Eighteen are recipients of the Pulitzer Prize and

one is a Nobel Laureate. These men and women, who reside in 28 states across the

land and in Canada and England, are a cross section of today's critical, literary, and

scholarly community.

A list of usage issues—old and new—was prepared by the Chair and the edi-

tors, and from it the usage program for the Third Edition was developed. Some of

the usage issues are entirely new. An example is the Note at

ambiance

. Other issues

discussed in previous editions were resurveyed. An example is the use of

world-class

a verb. In some instances the Panel's views are more conservative than in the past:

only 27 percent of the current Panel accepts

contact

as a sentence adverb, a usage

that in 1969 was acceptable to 44 percent of the Panel. Other Notes, such as the one

that discusses the use of

hopefully

as a noun, present guidance and linguistic analysis

without Panel opinions. The Usage Notes are not confined solely to matters of sty-

listic excellence. Our concern with usage extends to issues of gender, ethnicity, and

sexual preference.

Considerable attention is devoted in this Edition to the history of words. The

etymologies have been thoroughly revised and expanded by a group of 25 specialists

whose work reflects original scholarly research in many fields, including African,

above

the entry word

, provide a social, historical, and cultural con-

text for the evolution of words and explain the various linguistic processes that con-

tribute to the development of language.

A great many Modern English words can be traced to the reconstructed ances-

tral language called Proto-Indo-European. The etymologies in the Third Edition,

like those in the First, trace many words to their earliest ascertainable origins, usu-

ally in Proto-Indo-European, by means of cross-references to a new and thorough-

ly revised Appendix of Indo-European Roots. The Appendix, in a major departure

from previous style, gives the root followed by a brief gloss and a list of some of the

Modern English words derived from it. The individual roots entry then follows. For

example, the Modern English words

nerd

fierce

, and

treacle

, at first glance strange se-

, "wild."

The Third Edition contains hundreds of labeled words and meanings whose

occurrence is restricted to certain areas of the United States. An important new fea-

ture unique to the Third Edition is the inclusion of more than 100 Regional Notes

that explore the various linguistic and historical processes contributing to the de-

velopment of these terms. These processes are apparent in the Regional Notes at en-

tries such as

*ghwer-

In an effort to assist the reader in using the language with color, vitality, and

freshness, the Third Edition devotes more attention than ever before to synonymy

by including more than 900 synonym paragraphs. The fully cross-referenced syn-

onym paragraphs are of two kinds. The first, liberally illustrated with quotations,

discriminates shades of meaning. The second kind lists exact synonyms, that is,

words sharing a common irreducible element of meaning, and provides antonyms

when applicable.

, like

the First, is the product of significant advances in the use of computer technology.

The Third Edition is derived from a complex, highly versatile structured database.

Every element in the Dictionary was parsed, examined, and coded to reflect its lex-

ical function and position within the base. In combination, these elements form

dictionary entries, and on a broader scale they reflect a multitude of relationships

across the lexicon. Use of the database in connection with electronically generated

citations places the Third Edition a generation ahead of other dictionaries.

It is no longer possible for a few general editors working strictly within a pub-

lishing house to compile a true and accurate record of the language as it is used to-

day. Semantic, etymological, linguistic, and technical complexities inherent in the

language require the counsel of specialists from many disciplines. These specialists'

names are listed under Special Contributors and Consultants. We wish to thank all

of them for helping us in our pursuit of accuracy and truth. Special thanks go to

Persian, Turkish, and Native American languages. Special symbols, abbreviations,

and complex technical vocabulary have been avoided in the etymologies. More than

400 word history paragraphs, most of which contain dates of first occurrence of the

words in English, appear at entries with especially interesting etymologies. These

word histories, such as the one at

mantic companions, both derive from the root

absquatulate

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition

John Simpson, Co-Editor of the

, for valuable com-

ments made during the early stages of the project. And to all members of the Edi-

torial Staff who gave unstintingly of their time and expended great effort in the

development of the Third Edition, we express our deepest gratitude.

Anne H. Soukhanov

New Oxford English Dictionary

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