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

Americans plural

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Americans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of American

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

Example Sentences

American worries about ASML’s machines reaching China have been a persistent theme in recent years.

From Barron's • Jun. 19, 2026

That took 20 months of diplomacy but didn’t cost American lives, a depletion of munitions or countless billions of dollars.

From Salon • Jun. 19, 2026

One of those was Tommy Marcos - the New York president of American Outlaws, the largest fan group for Team USA.

From BBC • Jun. 19, 2026

There might be no better way to catch up than a crash course in American fiction, the experiences of individuals as imagined by the nation’s finest and most influential authors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026

“Our plan is to simulate a call between French and American officers,” he said.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse