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GeezerVison is showing ahdictionary.com — The Usage Panel   HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARYTo look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. THE USAGE PANELThe Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.  AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APPThe new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.  THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOGThe articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com Sherman AlexiePoet; fiction writer Eric AltermanAuthor; Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism, Brooklyn College, City University of New York Roger AngellWriter; editor Natalie AngierScience journalist; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Kwame Anthony AppiahLaurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy and the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University Margaret AtwoodWriter Kathryn H. AuChief Executive Officer, SchoolRise, LLC; former Dai Ho Chun Professor of Education, University of Hawaii John BaughMargaret Bush Wilson Professor in Arts and Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis; Professor Emeritus of Education and Linguistics, Stanford University Alison BechdelCartoonist Carolyn Wilkerson BellSusan Duval Adams Professor of English Emerita, Randolph-Macon Women's College Harold BloomSterling Professor of the Humanities and English, Yale University; MacArthur Fellow Paul BloomProfessor of Psychology, Yale University Roy Blount, Jr.Writer; radio commentator; former president, Authors Guild Katherine BooAuthor; staff writer, The New Yorker; MacArthur Fellow; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Leo BraudyUniversity Professor and Leo S. Bing Chair in English and American Literature, University of Southern California Joan BresnanSadie Dernham Patek Professor Emerita in Humanities and Senior Researcher at the Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University Rachel M. BrownsteinProfessor of English, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York Stephen BudianskyWriter Lorene CaryWriter Michael ChabonWriter; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Walter C. Clemens, Jr.Writer; Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Boston University; Associate, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University Ta-Nehisi CoatesWriter, The Atlantic Robin CookPhysician; writer Maureen CorriganWriter; book reviewer; Lecturer and Critic in Residence, Department of English, Georgetown University Anne CurzanProfessor of English, University of Michigan Gene D. DahmenAttorney; former president, Boston Bar Association; partner, Verrill Dana, LLP Lydia DavisAuthor; translator; Professor Emerita, State University of New York—Albany Junot DíazAuthor; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Joan DidionAuthor Annie DillardWriter; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Mark DotyPoet; Distinguished Writer, Rutgers University Rita DoveWriter; Commonwealth Professor of English, University of Virginia; recipient, Pulitzer Prize; former US poet laureate Esther DysonChairman, EDventure Holdings Freeman J. DysonWriter; physicist; Professor Emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study Connie EbleProfessor of English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Anne EdwardsBiographer; novelist; former President, Authors Guild Louise ErdrichAuthor Carolly EricksonHistorian; writer James FallowsWriter; national correspondent, The Atlantic Drew Gilpin FaustHistorian; President, Harvard University Frances FitzGeraldWriter; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Margalit FoxAuthor; senior writer, The New York Times Elizabeth FrankWriter; Joseph E. Harry Professor of Modern Languages and Literature, Bard College; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Jonathan FranzenWriter Mary GaitskillNovelist Catherine GallagherEggers Professor of English Literature, University of California, Berkeley Sara GarnesLinguist; Associate Professor of English Emerita, Ohio State University Michael G. GartnerFormer president, Board of Regents, State of Iowa; language columnist; former president, NBC News; former president, American Society of Newspaper Editors; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University J. Edward GatesLexicographer; editor; Professor Emeritus of English, Indiana State University James GleickAuthor; columnist Rebecca Newberger GoldsteinWriter; MacArthur Fellow Adam GopnikWriter; staff writer, The New Yorker Peter GordonPuzzlemaker; crossword editor Annette Gordon-ReedCharles Warren Professor of American Legal History, Harvard Law School; Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; MacArthur Fellow; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Jonathan GottschallAuthor; Professor of English, Washington and Jefferson College Philip GourevitchWriter; former editor, The Paris Review Francine du Plessix GrayWriter Georgia M. GreenWriter; Professor Emerita of Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Stephen GreenblattJohn Cogan University Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University Robert Lane GreeneAuthor; Correspondent and language columnist, The Economist Linda GregersonPoet; critic; Caroline Walker Bynum Distinguished University Professor of English, University of Michigan Alma GuillermoprietoWriter; staff writer, The New Yorker; MacArthur Fellow Jessica HagedornNovelist; poet Patricia HamplWriter; Regents’ Professor of English, University of Minnesota Sam HarrisAuthor; neuroscientist Robert HassFormer US poet laureate; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Joel HavemannAuthor; former correspondent, Los Angeles Times Marti HearstProfessor, School of Information, University of California, Berkeley William Least Heat-MoonWriter Mark HelprinWriter Evelyn Brooks HigginbothamVictor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University Oscar HijuelosAuthor; recipient, Pulitzer Prize and Rome Prize Douglas R. HofstadterDistinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition, Indiana University, Bloomington; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Jenny HolzerArtist; writer Gloria HomEducator and consultant; former professor of economics, Mission College; former trustee, California State University Garrett HongoWriter; Distinguished Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oregon Laurence HornAuthor; Professor of Linguistics and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Yale University Jennifer JamesCultural anthropologist; writer Edward P. JonesAuthor; Professor of English, The George Washington University; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Erica JongPoet; novelist; essayist Wendy KaminerWriter Alice KaplanJohn M. Musser Professor of French, Yale University Elizabeth T. KennanPresident Emerita, Mount Holyoke College Tracy KidderWriter; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Barbara KingsolverWriter Maxine Hong KingstonWriter; recipient, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and PEN Center USA West Award for Fiction Jeremy K.B. KinsmanColumnist; former Canadian Ambassador to the European Union Laura KipnisWriter; Professor of Radio-TV-Film, Northwestern University Elizabeth KolbertJournalist; author Ed KorenCartoonist, The New Yorker Robert KuttnerCoeditor and cofounder, The American Prospect; columnist, The Boston Globe Sara Lawrence-LightfootEmily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education, Harvard University; MacArthur Fellow David LeavittWriter; Professor of English, University of Florida Jill LeporeAuthor; Professor of History, Harvard University Wendy LesserWriter; Editor, The Threepenny Review Lawrence LessigProfessor, Harvard Law School Beth LevinWilliam H. Bonsall Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Linguistics, Stanford University Michael LewisAuthor Mark LibermanProfessor of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania James LindgrenProfessor of Law, Northwestern University Phillip LopateWriter; Professor and Nonfiction Director, Columbia University School of the Arts Lois LowryAuthor Heather Mac DonaldAuthor; John M. Olin Fellow, Manhattan Institute Megan MarshallBiographer; Charles Wesley Emerson College Professor, Emerson College; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Suzanne R. MassieWriter; lecturer on Russian history and culture Armistead MaupinAuthor Jane MayerAuthor Alice E. MayhewEditorial Director, Simon & Schuster Terrence McNallyPlaywright; recipient, four Tony Awards John H. McWhorterLinguist; writer; Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute Hassan Minor, Jr.Managing Director, datablack; former Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Howard University Lorrie MooreWriter; Delmore Schwartz Professor in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin–Madison Lance MorrowAuthor; biographer; essayist, Time Alice MunroAuthor; recipient, Nobel Prize in Literature Cullen MurphyEditor at Large, Vanity Fair Thomas M.T. NilesPresident Emeritus, United States Council for International Business Marsha NormanPlaywright; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Susan OrleanAuthor; staff writer, The New Yorker Cynthia OzickNovelist; essayist Suzan-Lori ParksWriter; MacArthur Fellow; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Margaret Sayers PedenTranslator; Professor Emerita of Spanish, University of Missouri Merrill PerlmanEditor; language columnist, Columbia Journalism Review Ivars PetersonDirector of Publications and Communications, Mathematical Association of America Steven PinkerChair (2008–2018)Johnstone Family Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University Robert PinskyPoet; translator; former US poet laureate; Professor of English, Boston University Michael PollanAuthor; Professor of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley Virginia PostrelAuthor; columnist, Bloomberg View Alvin F. PoussaintProfessor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School Francine ProseWriter Jane Bryant QuinnJournalist; financial columnist Claudia RankinePoet; playwright; Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry, Yale University; MacArthur Fellow Richard RhodesAuthor; recipient, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize; MacArthur Fellow Frank RichAuthor; former columnist, The New York Times; writer-at-large, New York magazine John R. RickfordJ.E. Wallace Sterling Professor in Linguistics and the Humanities and Pritzker University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University Jason L. RileySenior Fellow, Manhattan Institute; columnist, The Wall Street Journal Mary RoachWriter Richard RodriguezWriter Robert J. SamuelsonColumnist, The Washington Post John SaylesFilm director; writer; screenwriter; actor Lloyd SchwartzPoet; music critic; Frederick S. Troy Professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Boston; recipient, Pulitzer Prize David SedarisWriter; humorist Will ShortzPuzzlemaker; crossword editor, The New York Times Elaine ShowalterAvalon Foundation Professor of the Humanities, Emerita, Princeton University Leslie Marmon SilkoAuthor John SimonDrama and film critic Mona SimpsonNovelist; Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles David SkinnerEditor Anna Deavere SmithPlaywright; actress; professor; MacArthur Fellow; recipient, National Endowment for the Humanities Medal Tracy K. SmithPoet; Professor of Creative Writing, Princeton University; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Christina Hoff SommersAuthor; resident scholar, American Enterprise Institute A.E. StallingsPoet; poetry program director, Athens Centre; MacArthur Fellow Susan StambergSpecial correspondent, National Public Radio Margaret O’Brien SteinfelsCodirector, Center on Religion and Culture, Fordham University; former editor in chief, Commonweal Farah StockmanReporter, The New York Times; former columnist, The Boston Globe; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Amy TanWriter Deborah TannenUniversity Professor and Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University Shane TempletonFoundation Professor of Literacy Studies, University of Nevada, Reno Paul TherouxNovelist; travel writer Elizabeth Marshall ThomasWriter Peter TiersmaProfessor of Law and Hon. William Matthew Byrne, Jr. Chair, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Elizabeth C. TraugottProfessor Emerita of Linguistics and English, Stanford University Calvin TrillinStaff writer, The New Yorker Mark TurnerInstitute Professor and Professor of Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University Anne TylerNovelist; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Helen H. VendlerArthur Kingsley Porter University Professor, Harvard University Paula VogelEugene O'Neill Professor (Adjunct) and Chair of Playwrighting, Yale School of Drama; recipient, Pulitzer Prize William T. VollmannAuthor Eugene VolokhGary T. Schwartz Professor of Law, University of California, Los Angeles Barbara WallraffAuthor; editor Fay WeldonWriter; Professor of Creative Writing, Brunel University Colson WhiteheadWriter; MacArthur Fellow; recipient, Pulitzer Prize Tobias WolffWriter; Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Professor of English, Stanford University Richard A. YoungWriter; editor; lecturer; publisher; engineer; Executive Director, National Registry of Environmental Professionals We regret that the following members of the Usage Panel, who participated in the program for this edition, have died.Louis Auchincloss, Sheridan Baker, Letitia Baldrige, Jacques Barzun, Daniel Bell, Kallia H. Bokser, Julian Bond, William F. Buckley, Jr., Gabrielle Burton, Claire Kehrwald Cook, Robert W. Creamer, Frank Deford, William K. Durr, Howard Fast, John Kenneth Galbraith, Mark O. Hatfield, Molly Ivins, Alfred E. Kahn, Justin Kaplan, Stanley Kauffmann, Galway Kinnell, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Maxine Kumin, Anthony Lewis, Robert Manning, Leonard Michaels, Bharati Mukherjee, Edwin Newman, Geoffrey Nunberg, Ellen F. Prince, William James Raspberry, Edward W. Rosenheim, Antonin Scalia, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Harvey Shapiro, Carlota S. Smith, Theodore C. Sorensen, Stewart L. Udall, David Foster Wallace, Calvert Watkins, Jacqueline Grennan Wexler, Tom Wicker, Alden S. Wood, William Zinsser Indo-European & Semitic Roots AppendicesThousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. |
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