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American Word Origins

America in So Many Words: Words That Have Shaped America, by Allan Metcalf and David K. Barnhart, published by Houghton Mifflin Company
From apple pie to zero hour, canoe to jukebox, these are the words of American English, arranged chronologically starting with the settlement of Jamestown. The tidbits of information provided are thus of historical as well as linguistic interest.
On this page: abolition to AWOL.
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Title Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y
A:  A

affirmative action (program, United States)
Afro-American (Black American of African ancestry)
alumnus and alma mater (word origin: 1696)
American (United States of America or its people)
armonica (word origin: 1762)
artery (in anatomy)
asleep at the switch (word origin: 1908)
athlete's foot (contagious fungal skin infection)
AWOL (Absent without leave)