American

American  

[uh-mer-i-kuhn] / əˈmɛr ɪ kən /

adjective

1. of or relating to the United States of America or its inhabitants.

   an American citizen.

2. of or relating to North or South America; of the Western Hemisphere.

   the American continents.

3. of or relating to the Indigenous peoples of North and South America.

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noun

1. a citizen of the United States of America.

2. a native or inhabitant of North or South America.

3. an Indigenous person of North or South America.

4. American English.

5. a steam locomotive having a four-wheeled front truck, four driving wheels, and no rear truck.

American British  

/ əˈmɛrɪkən /

adjective

1. of or relating to the United States of America, its inhabitants, or their form of English

2. of or relating to the American continent

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noun

1. a native or citizen of the US

2. a native or inhabitant of any country of North, Central, or South America

3. the English language as spoken or written in the United States

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Americanness
  noun
• Americanly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of American

First recorded in 1570–80; Americ(a) + -an

Example Sentences

And the only two times South Korea played in a North American World Cup, in 1986 and 1994, it failed to win a game.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026

We’ve been talking about this North American World Cup for the better part of a decade—but it’s now actually here!

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026

Micah Richards: How teams deal with the humidity is going to play a big part at this tournament, so the South American teams will be strong.

From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026

The study was published in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

The American aircraft fly over Los Baños all the time now.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly