Question #148793. Asked by
Bright_Star.
Last updated Feb 20 2022.
Originally posted Feb 13 2022 2:08 PM.
American (plural Americans)https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/American
A citizen or inhabitant of the United States of America.
Roughly two-thirds of Americans default to the General American accent, with other dialects like Southern, AAVE, and Chicano usually being considered lower prestige outside of entertainment and politics.
(uncommon) Any inhabitant of the Americas.
(historical) A citizen or inhabitant of British North America.
(archaic) Synonym of American Indian or Native American, an indigenous inhabitant of the Americas. [from 16th c.]
(uncountable, US printing, rare, dated) A size of type smaller than German, 1-point type.
Usage notes
Within most English dialects, American now refers particularly to the people of the largest English-speaking country in the Americas, the United States. Other senses now typically require qualifiers: Central American, Native American, &c. Some speakers maintain separate idiolects, however, including some Native Americans. Many Latin Americans also pointedly maintain Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese's preference for using América to refer to the Americas generally.
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