The American Heritage dictionary of the English language.

Summary: This fifth edition has entries for over 10,000 new words and terms, over 4,000 full color images, offers the latest research on word origins and meanings, and provides guidelines on accurate usage. The print edition includes a passkey code for a free download of a smartphone app that works with the iPad/iPhone/iPod or Android platform. The app puts the entire dictionary at your fingertips anywhere, anytime, making this one of the most comprehensive and accessible resources available on any mobile device. In keeping with the American Heritage tradition of cutting edge research, this edition represents the work of a team of experts, scholars, and contributors. Thousands of definitions have been revised in rapidly changing fields such as astronomy and biology, geographical entries and maps have been completely updated, and the dictionary's signature feature notes on word history, synonymy, and language variation have been enhanced and improved. Advice on controversies and conundrums in English usage is provided by the American Heritage Usage Panel, a group of 200 prominent users of the language. The Panel passes judgment on both new and longstanding usage problems. It offers guidance on issues of usage, grammar, and style. Word meanings are made easier to understand with thousands of new quotations from classic and contemporary writers. Etymologies explaining word origins and development have been newly created or revised to reflect the very latest scholarship. Many words are traced back to their roots in prehistory through two unique appendixes showing word roots in ancient Indo European and Semitic.

Record details

ISBN: 9780547041018
ISBN: 0547041012
Physical Description: print
xxvii, 2084 pages : illustrations (some color), maps, portraits ; 29 cm
Edition: 5th ed.
Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

Content descriptions

General Note:

Previous edition: 2000.

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction / Joseph P. Pickett -- Editorial and production staff -- Special contributors and consultants -- The usage panel -- Variation and change in our living language / John R. Rickford -- Usage in The American heritage dictionary / Steven Pinker -- Guide to the dictionary -- Pronunciation key -- Dictionary of the English language -- Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans / Calvert Watkins -- Guide to Appendix I -- Indo-European sound correspondences -- Appendix I: Indo-European roots -- Proto-Semitic language and culture / John Huehnergard -- Guide to Appendix II and chart of the Semitic family tree -- Appendix II: Semitic roots.