American

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Origin: 1776

When our representatives in General Congress, Assembled, on July 4, 1776, declared "That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States," the question immediately arose: What do you call the citizens of the newly named United States of America? Our answer was to shorten that mouthful to its last word and add n, a choice that has vexed our neighbors in Canada and Mexico ever since.

For are not they too Americans? But consider the alternatives. We could be called United Statesians, as Canadian and English writers have suggested. Our own citizens have proposed Usonians, Usans, Usarians, Ustatians, Unisians, Unitans, Fredonians, and Columbians. Columbia, in fact, was a serious possibility for the name of our country; it was already in use in 1775 by the poet Phyllis Wheatley, and it has been a favorite of poetic patriots ever since, as in the song "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean." That name was taken so seriously that our nation's capital is located in the District of Columbia. But to this day nobody has improved on the flatly descriptive United States of America, and so its people have remained Americans.

The name America had been current ever since a German cartographer, Martin Waldseemüller, named the continent after explorer and navigator Amerigo Vespucci in 1507. Colonists from England, a century later, at first reserved the designation Americans for the original native inhabitants. Soon, however, the descendants of English settlers felt native enough to call themselves Americans, thereby to distinguish themselves from English visitors or immigrants. By 1700, writers on both sides of the Atlantic were discussing what it means to be an American--referring this time to the descendants of those who came from Europe. It remained for the Declaration of Independence to change all Americans from colonists of England to citizens of their own country.

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IN BRIEF: n. - A native or inhabitant of the United States.

I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American. — Daniel Webster, Source: Speech, July 17, 1850. Webster's Works. Boston. 1857, P. 437.

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For a list of words related to American, see:

• Cheese

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See words rhyming with "American."

  See crossword solutions for the clue America.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - amerikansk
n. - amerikaner

idioms:

• North american    nordamerikaner
• South american    sydamerikaner

Nederlands (Dutch)
Amerikaan, Amerikaans

Français (French)
adj. - américain, d'Amérique, américain des Etats-Unis, (US) avec pension complète (un hôtel)
n. - Américain, (Ling) américain

idioms:

• North american    Nord-américain, nord-américain, américain des Etats-Unis
• South american    Sud-américain, sud-américain, américain de l'Amérique du Sud

Deutsch (German)
adj. - amerikanisch
n. - Amerikaner, US-Amerikaner

idioms:

• North american    Nordamerikaner, nordamerikanisch
• South american    Südamerikaner, südamerikanisch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - Αμερικανός
adj. - αμερικανικός, Αμερικανός

idioms:

• North american    Βορειοαμερικανός, βορειοαμερικάνικος
• South american    Νοτιοαμερικανός, νοτιοαμερικάνικος

Italiano (Italian)
statunitense, americano

idioms:

• Latin american    latino-americano
• North american    nordamericano
• South american    sudamericano

Português (Portuguese)
n. - americano (m)
adj. - americano

idioms:

• Latin american    latino-americano
• North american    norte-americano
• South american    sul-americano

Русский (Russian)
американец, американка, американский

idioms:

• Latin american    латиноамериканец, латиноамериканский
• North american    североамериканский
• South american    житель Южной Америки, южно-американский

Español (Spanish)
adj. - americano, norteamericano, estadounidense
n. - americano, norteamericano, estadounidense

idioms:

• North american    estadounidense, norteamericano
• South american    sudamericano

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - amerikan
adj. - amerikansk

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
美国的, 美洲的, 美国人, 美洲人

idioms:

• North american    北美洲
• South american    南美的, 南美人的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 美國的, 美洲的
n. - 美國人, 美洲人

idioms:

• North american    北美洲
• South american    南美的, 南美人的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 아메리카의, 미국의
n. - 미국인, 미국 영어

idioms:

• North american    북미사람
• South american    남미사람

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アメリカ人, アメリカ英語
adj. - アメリカ合衆国の, アメリカ人の, アメリカ大陸の

idioms:

• american football    アメリカンフットボール

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الأمريكن, هندي احمر من هنود امريكا الشماليه أو الجنوبيه (صفه) من مواطني الولايات المتحده الأمريكيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮אמריקאי, אמריקני, של יבשת אמריקה, של ארה"ב ותושביה‬
n. - ‮אמריקאי, אמריקני, תושב יבשת אמריקה, תושב ארה"ב, אנגלית אמריקאית (שפה)‬

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