Early American

adjective

1. (of furniture, buildings, utensils, etc.) built or made in the U.S. in the colonial period or somewhat later.

2. built or made in imitation of works of this period.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Early American¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Peter Mancall, a history professor at USC, has delved into major moments of political violence in early American history, and said a lot of it stemmed from “some perception of grievance.”

From Los Angeles Times

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor points out in her furious dissent, Barrett’s history lesson is, at a minimum, dubious: There is a “long history of injunctive relief granted to nonparties,” including in the Court of Chancery and early American courts.

From Slate

Many early American Jews, especially in the South, embraced slavery wholeheartedly.

From Slate

And that’s how the pardon power operated in early American history: Prosecutors and judges routinely recommended clemency in unjust cases, which presidents granted as a matter of course.

From Slate

As a historian of early American women and gender, however, I saw the deep and troubling roots of this rhetoric.

From Salon