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{{Short description|Definitions for the word American}}
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'''Use of the word ''American''''' in the ] differs between historical, geographical and political contexts. Deriving from '']''<!--Please do NOT change this link, see ]-->, a term originally referring to all of the ] (also called the ]), its usage has evolved over time, and differs from uses of cognate words in other languages.
<!--Please do not delete the language templates (ex. {{lang}}, {{translate}}, {{nihongo}}, {{zh}}, etc. They're needed for accessibility reasons, especially for screen readers. See ]-->
The meaning of the word '''''American''''' in the English language varies according to the historical, geographical, and political context in which it is used. ''American'' is derived from ''America'', a term originally denoting all of the ] (also called the ]), ultimately derived from the name of the ] explorer and cartographer ] (1451–1512). In some expressions, it retains this Pan-American sense, but its usage has evolved over time and, for various historical reasons, the word came to denote people or things specifically from the ].


In contemporary English, ''American'' generally refers to ] or ] related to the United States of America; among native English speakers this usage is almost universal, with any other use of the term requiring specification.<ref name=Wilson>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Kenneth G.|title=The Columbia Guide to Standard American English|year=1993|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=0-231-06989-8|pages=–28|url=https://archive.org/details/columbiaguidetos00wils_0|url-access=registration}} </ref> However, in the past some have argued that "American" should be widened to also include people or things from anywhere in the American continents.<ref name="Mencken">{{cite journal | first = H. L. | last = Mencken | title = Names for Americans | journal = American Speech | volume = 22 |date=December 1947 | pages = 241–256 | doi = 10.2307/486658 | issue = 4 | jstor=486658}}</ref><ref name="Gage">{{cite encyclopedia|first1=Walter S.|last1=Avis|first2=Patrick D.|last2=Drysdale|first3=Robert J.|last3=Gregg|first4=Victoria E.|last4=Eeufeldt|first5=Matthew H.|last5=Scargill|year=1983|encyclopedia=Gage Canadian Dictionary|title=American|location=Toronto|publisher=Gage Publishing Limited|page=37|isbn=0-7715-9122-5|edition=pbk}}</ref>
The word can be used as both a ] and an ]. In adjectival use, it is generally understood to mean "of or relating to the ]"; for example, "] was an American singer" or "the American president gave a speech today;" in noun form, it generally means ]. When used with a ] the adjective ''American'' can mean "of or relating to the Americas," as in ]n or ]. Less frequently, the adjective can take this meaning without a qualifier, even when used in the United States, as in "] dialects and pronunciation differ by country," or "The ancient American civilizations of the ] period were advanced in mathematics and astronomy." A third, but related use of the term pertains specifically to the ], for instance, "In the 15th century, many Americans died from European diseases during the Spanish Conquest".


The word can be used as either an ] or a ] (] a ]). In adjectival use, it means "of or relating to the United States"; for example, "] was an American singer" or "the man prefers ]". In its noun form, the word generally means a ] or ] of the U.S., but is also used for ]. The noun is rarely used in English to refer to people not connected to the United States when intending a geographical meaning.<ref name="Wilson"/>{{Not verified in body|date=July 2023}} When used with a ], the adjective ''American'' can mean "of or relating to the Americas", as in ]n or ]. Less frequently, the adjective can take this meaning without a qualifier, as in "] dialects and pronunciation differ by country" or the names of the ] and the ] (ARIN). A third use of the term pertains specifically to the ], for instance, "In the 16th century, many Americans died from imported diseases during the European conquest", though this usage is rare, as "]", "]" or "]" are considered less confusing and generally more appropriate.
In contrast, cognates of the word "American" in other languages have primarily the pan-American function. For example, the ] ''americano'' generally refers to the entire New World; the adjective and noun describing the United States is ''estadounidense'', deriving from ''Estados Unidos de América'', the United States of America. Also, the term ''norteamericano'', North American, is used in some Central American and South American countries, to describe the people of the United states. The differences in usage of the cognates cause some cultural friction between U.S. nationals and Latin Americans; Latin Americans, in particular, may object to the primary English usage of ''American'', feeling it unfairly appropriates the term.


Compound constructions which indicate a minority ], such as "]" likewise refer exclusively to people in or from the United States of America, as does the ] "]". For instance, the ] and their language ] derive their name from the fact that they are ], i.e. Blacks who were formerly enslaved in the United States of America.
==History of the word==
].]]


==Other languages==
] exist for the derivation of the word ''America''. The most commonly expounded ] is that German cartographer ] derived it from the Latinized version of the name of ] (''Americus Vespucius''), an ] merchant and cartographer whose exploratory journeys in the early 1500s brought him to the eastern coastline of ] and to the ]. A more elaborate theory states that Vespucci changed his Christian name of Alberigo Vespucci (''Albericus Vespucius'') to Amerigo Vespucci only after coming into contact with natives from the eponymous ] ranges of ], which connect ] to ], an important geographical feature of New World atlases. The newest theory suggests ''America'' derives from the name of one ] of ] in ], financier of ]'s expedition in 1497; Cabot is believed to be the first Western European to set foot on the mainland. In contrast to the first theory aforementioned, this newer theory lacks clear supporting evidence. However it came into existence, the term ''American'' was subsequently used as an adjective describing the ] and its native people.
{{also|Demonyms for the United States}}
], ], ], ],{{efn|name=ja-american|Japanese: "U.S. citizen" is {{nihongo||アメリカ人|amerika-jin}}<ref name="jap-dict">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/enja/American|title=American|work=WordReference English-Japanese Dictionary|year=2013|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=December 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230200940/http://www.wordreference.com/enja/american|url-status=live}}</ref>}} ], ], and ]{{efn|Russian: "U.S. citizen" is {{transl|ru|amerikanec}} ({{lang|ru|американец}}) for males and {{transl|ru|amerikanka}} ({{lang|ru|американка}}) for females<ref name="dict-ru">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/enru/American|title=American|work=WordReference English-Russian Dictionary|year=2013}}</ref>}} speakers may use cognates of ''American'' to refer to inhabitants of the Americas or to U.S. nationals. They generally have other terms specific to U.S. nationals, such as the German {{lang|de|US-Amerikaner}},<ref name="de-dict">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://wortschatz.uni-leipzig.de/cgi-bin/wort_www.exe?site=1&Wort=US-Amerikaner|title=US-Amerikaner|encyclopedia=Wortschatz|language=de|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120193458/http://wortschatz.uni-leipzig.de/cgi-bin/wort_www.exe?site=1&Wort=US-Amerikaner|archive-date=2015-01-20}}</ref> French {{lang|fr|étatsunien}},<ref name="french-etatsunien">{{cite news|url=http://correcteurs.blog.lemonde.fr/2007/07/06/etats-uniens-ou-americains-that-is-the-question/|title=Etats-Uniens ou Américains, that is the question|newspaper=]|date=July 6, 2007|language=fr|archive-date=December 27, 2010|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227105310/http://correcteurs.blog.lemonde.fr/2007/07/06/etats-uniens-ou-americains-that-is-the-question/|url-status=live}}</ref> Japanese {{nihongo||米国人|beikokujin}},<ref name="jap-dict-detail">{{cite web|url=http://webdico.com:8080/kanji/quicks?dbname=kokug&sword=American&stype=1|title=American|work=Online English-Japanese Pictorial Dictionary|publisher=Free Light Software|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195900/http://webdico.com:8080/kanji/quicks?dbname=kokug&sword=American&stype=1|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Italian {{lang|it|statunitense}}.<ref name="dict-it">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/iten/statunitense|title=statunitense|work=WordReference English-Italiano Dictionary|year=2013|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202216/http://www.wordreference.com/iten/statunitense|url-status=live}}</ref> These specific terms may be less common than the term ''American''.<ref name="french-etatsunien"/>


In French, {{lang|fr|états-unien}}, {{lang|fr|étas-unien}} or {{lang|fr|étasunien}}, from {{lang|fr|États-Unis d'Amérique}} ("United States of America"), is a rarely used word that distinguishes U.S. things and persons from the adjective {{lang|fr|américain}}, which denotes persons and things from the United States, but may also refer to "the Americas".<ref name="french-etatsunien"/>
In the 1500s, the word ''American'' was used by Europeans for the indigenous habitants of the New World; soon it was extended to describe newly settled Europeans, namely Spaniards and their mixed progeny. In 1776, the ] and the ] proclaimed a new country, "The United States of America". The Articles of Confederation state the following above the signatories: "In Witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day of July in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Eight, and in the Third Year of the independence of America." Divergence in usage becomes evident because only the word America, not the United States, is used in this section.


Likewise, German's use of {{lang|de|U.S.-amerikanisch}} and {{lang|de|U.S.-Amerikaner}}<ref name="de-dict"/> observe this cultural distinction, solely denoting U.S. things and people. In normal parlance, the adjective "American" and its direct cognates are usually used if the context renders the nationality of the person clear. This differentiation is prevalent in German-speaking countries, as indicated by the ] of the {{Lang|de|]}} (one of the leading German-language newspapers in Switzerland) which dismisses the term {{lang|de|U.S.-amerikanisch}} as both 'unnecessary' and 'artificial' and recommends replacing it with ''amerikanisch''.<ref>''Vademecum. Der sprachlich-technische Leitfaden der «Neuen Zürcher Zeitung»'', 13th edition. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zürich 2013, p. 102, s. v. ''US-amerikanisch''.</ref> The respective guidelines of the foreign ministries of Austria, Germany and Switzerland all prescribe ''Amerikaner'' and ''amerikanisch'' in reference to the United States for official usage, making no mention of {{lang|de|U.S.-Amerikaner}} or {{lang|de|U.S.-amerikanisch}}.<ref>Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103122940/http://www.eda.admin.ch/etc/medialib/downloads/edazen/topics/intla/cintla.Par.0011.File.tmp/lt_080506_statenames_de.pdf |date=2015-11-03 }}; Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031193419/http://www.bmeia.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/oracle/staatennamen_de.pdf |date=October 31, 2014 }}; Auswärtiges Amt: </ref>
] employs two different meanings for ''American'' in the ]. For example,
Alexander Hamilton writes of "the American republic" in '']''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm|title=The Federalist no. 51|author=Alexander Hamilton}}</ref> and ''70''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikisource.org/Federalist_No._70|author=Alexander Hamilton|title=The Federalist no. 70}}</ref> In contrast, Hamilton uses ''American'' to describe land outside the political borders of the United States of America in ''Federalist Paper 24'' <ref>{{cite journal | first = Alexander | last = Hamilton | journal = The Federalist Papers | volume = 24 | url = http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/federalist/federalist-20-29/federalist.24.shtml | title = The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered}}</ref>


Portuguese has {{lang|pt|americano}}, denoting both a person or thing from the Americas and a U.S. national.<ref name="pt-americano">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa|url=http://www.priberam.pt/dlpo/default.aspx?pal=americano|title=americano|language=pt|access-date=July 16, 2011|archive-date=September 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927055924/http://www.priberam.pt/dlpo/default.aspx?pal=americano|url-status=live}}</ref> For referring specifically to a U.S. national and things, some words used are {{lang|pt|estadunidense}} (also spelled {{lang|pt|estado-unidense}}, "United States person"), from {{lang|pt|Estados Unidos da América}}, and {{lang|pt|ianque}} ("Yankee")—both usages exist in Brazil (although "americano" is more frequent), but are uncommon in Portugal—but the term most often used, and the only one in Portugal, is {{lang|pt|norte-americano}}, even though it could, as with its Spanish equivalent, apply to Canadians and Mexicans as well.
{{quotation|Though a wide ocean separates the United States from Europe, yet there are various considerations that warn us against an excess of confidence or security. On one side of us, and stretching far into our rear, are growing settlements subject to the dominion of Britain. On the other side, and extending to meet the British settlements, are colonies and establishments subject to the dominion of Spain. This situation and the vicinity of the West India Islands, belonging to these two powers create between them, in respect to their American possessions and in relation to us, a common interest.}}


In Spanish, {{lang|es|americano}} denotes geographic and cultural origin in the New World, as well as (infrequently) a U.S. citizen;<ref name="rae-americano">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=]|title=americano|url=http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=americano|publisher=Real Academia Española|language=es|access-date=July 16, 2011|archive-date=April 4, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404155419/http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=americano|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Pequeño Larousse Ilustrado 1992 edition, look up word Americano: Contains the Observation: Debe evitarse el empleo de americano con el sentido de norteamericano o de los Estados Unidos|trans-title=Usage of the word with the meaning of U.S. citizen or the United States must be avoided |language=es}}</ref>{{efn|The first two definitions in '']'' (the ] in Spanish) define {{lang|es|americano}} as "Native of America" and "Pertaining or relating to this part of the world" , where {{lang|es|América}} refers to the continent.{{refn|{{cite encyclopedia|title=América|encyclopedia=WordReference English-Spanish Dictionary|url=http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=Am%C3%A9rica}}}} The fourth definition of {{lang|es|americano}} is defined as "United States person" .}} the more common term is {{lang|es|estadounidense}} ("United States person"), which derives from {{lang|es|Estados Unidos de América}} ("United States of America"). The Spanish term {{lang|es|norteamericano}} ("North American") is frequently used to refer things and persons from the United States, but this term can also denote people and things from Canada and Mexico.<ref name="rae-estadosunidos">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Diccionario panhispánico de dudas|url=http://buscon.rae.es/dpd/?key=norteamericano&origen=REDPD|title=norteamericano|language=es|access-date=October 26, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185639/http://buscon.rae.es/dpd/?key=norteamericano&origen=REDPD|url-status=live}}</ref> Among Spanish-speakers, North America generally does not include Central America or the Caribbean.
Some proposals for a different name for the country were made prior to the Constitutional Convention, with the most popular name being "]". The problems with the name "United States of America" (its length, awkwardness, vague and imprecise meaning) were known and discussed at the time, but the Constitution did not address the topic, using both "United States of America" and "United States" interchangeably.


Conversely, in ], there is no possibility for disambiguation. '']'' (m.) and '']'' (f.) can refer to persons from the United States or from the continents of the Americas, and there is no specific word capable of distinguishing the two meanings. For this reason, the latter meaning is very rarely used, and word {{lang|cs|američan(ka)}} is used almost exclusively to refer to persons from the United States. The usage is exactly parallel to the English word.
Peculiar inconsistencies are evident in official documents shortly after the United States became a sovereign nation. The 1778 Treaty of Alliance with France uses the term "United States of North America" in the first sentence, but subsequently uses just "the said United States". Both "United States of America" and "United States of North America" came from the earlier terms "United Colonies of America" and "United Colonies of North America".


In other languages, however, there is no possibility for confusion. For example, the ] word for "U.S. national" is {{transl|zh|měiguórén}} ({{zh|t=美國人|s=美国人}})<ref name="zh-dict-us-natural">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/zhen/%E7%BE%8E%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%BA|title=美国人|work=WordReference English-Chinese Dictionary|year=2013|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110350/http://www.wordreference.com/zhen/%E7%BE%8E%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%BA|url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|{{transl|zh|Měiguórén}} is the ] pronunciation.}} is derived from a word for the United States, {{transl|zh|měiguó}}, where {{transl|zh|měi}} is an abbreviation for ''Yàměilìjiā'' ("America") and {{transl|zh|guó}} is "country".<ref name="zh-dict-us">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/enzh/United%20States|title=United States|work=WordReference English-Chinese Dictionary|year=2013|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195610/http://www.wordreference.com/enzh/United%20States|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="zh-dict-america">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/enzh/America|title=America|work=WordReference English-Chinese Dictionary|year=2013|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190447/http://www.wordreference.com/enzh/America|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="zh-dict-country">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/enzh/country|title=country|work=WordReference English-Chinese Dictionary|year=2013|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192052/http://www.wordreference.com/enzh/country|url-status=live}}</ref> The name for the American continents is {{transl|zh|měizhōu}}, from {{transl|zh|měi}} plus {{transl|zh|zhōu}} ("continent").<ref name="zh-dict-continent">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/enzh/continent|title=continent|work=WordReference English-Chinese Dictionary|year=2013|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195433/http://www.wordreference.com/enzh/continent|url-status=live}}</ref> Thus, a {{transl|zh|měi'''zhōu'''rén}} is an American in the continent sense, and a {{transl|zh|měi'''guó'''rén}} is an American in the U.S. sense.{{efn|Chinese: {{transl|zh|měiguó}} ("United States") is written as {{lang|zh|美国}}, {{transl|zh|měizhōu}} ("America the continent") is written as {{lang|zh|美洲}}, {{transl|zh|guó}} ("country") is written as {{lang|zh|国}}, and {{transl|zh|zhōu}} ("continent") is written as {{lang|zh|洲}}.<ref name="zh-dict-us"/><ref name="zh-dict-america"/><ref name="zh-dict-country"/><ref name="zh-dict-continent"/>}}
The Treaty of Peace and Amity, Signed at Algiers ], ],<ref>
{{cite web | url = http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/barbary/bar1795t.htm | title = The Barbary Treaties:
Treaty of Peace and Amity}}</ref> is an agreement with the "United States of North America" which uses both "citizens of the United States" and "American Citizens" in the document.


] and ] also use unambiguous terms, with Korean having {{transl|ko|Migug}} ({{lang|ko|미국(인)}}) for the country versus {{transl|ko|Amerika}} ({{lang|ko|아메리카}}) for the continents,<ref name="ko-dict-america">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/enko/america|title=america|work=WordReference English-Korean Dictionary|year=2013|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191432/http://www.wordreference.com/enko/america|url-status=live}}</ref> and Vietnamese having {{lang|vi|Hoa Kỳ}} for the country versus {{lang|vi|Châu Mỹ}} for the continents.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} ] has such terms as well ({{transl|ja|beikoku(jin)}} ), but they are found more in newspaper headlines than in speech, where {{transl|ja|amerikajin}} predominates.{{efn|name=ja-american}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the/japanese-word-for-768685ca582abd0af2fbb57ca37752aa98c9372b.html|title=How to say "united states" in Japanese|access-date=February 13, 2020|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308155141/https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the/japanese-word-for-768685ca582abd0af2fbb57ca37752aa98c9372b.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Semantic divergence in the Anglophone world would not affect the Spanish colonies. In 1801, a document titled "Letter to American Spaniards" is believed to have directly influenced the Act of Independence and the 1811 Constitution of ].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.histal.umontreal.ca/espanol/documentos/la%20carta%20dirigida%20a%20los%20espanoles%20americanos.htm | title = La “Carta dirigida a los españoles americanos”, una carta que recorrió muchos caminos...}} {{es icon}}</ref> This document was published in French, Spanish, and English in 1799, 1801 and 1808, respectively.


In ], {{lang|sw|Marekani}} means specifically the United States, and {{lang|sw|Mmarekani}} is a U.S. national, whereas the international form {{lang|sw|Amerika}} refers to the continents, and {{lang|sw|Mwamerika}} would be an inhabitant thereof.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sw.bab.la/kamusi/kiingereza-kiswahili/united-states|title=United States|publisher=Wasilana & Amana|work=bab.la|access-date=2013-10-27|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131028003031/http://sw.bab.la/kamusi/kiingereza-kiswahili/united-states|archive-date=2013-10-28|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sw.bab.la/kamusi/kiswahili-kiingereza/amerika|title=amerika|publisher=Wasilana & Amana|work=bab.la|access-date=2013-10-27|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131028003013/http://sw.bab.la/kamusi/kiswahili-kiingereza/amerika|archive-date=2013-10-28|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sw.bab.la/kamusi/kiingereza-kiswahili/american|title=American|publisher=Wasilana & Amana|work=bab.la|access-date=2013-10-27|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131028002946/http://sw.bab.la/kamusi/kiingereza-kiswahili/american|archive-date=2013-10-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{efn|In Swahili, adding the prefix ''m(w)-'' to a word indicates a person (''wa-'' would indicate people).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.masai-mara.com/mmsw2.htm|title=Introduction to Swahili|author=Youngman, Jeremy|work=Masai Mara|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=November 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102155034/http://www.masai-mara.com/mmsw2.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} Likewise, the ] word {{lang|eo|Ameriko}} refers to the continents. For the country there is the term {{lang|eo|Usono}}. Thus, a citizen of the United States is an {{lang|eo|usonano}}, whereas an {{lang|eo|amerikano}} is an inhabitant of the Americas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esperanto.mobi/en/dictionary-esperanto-english/Ameriko|title=Ameriko|work=Esperanto–English Dictionary|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193716/http://www.esperanto.mobi/en/dictionary-esperanto-english/Ameriko|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esperanto.mobi/en/dictionary-esperanto-english/Usono|title=Usono|work=Esperanto–English Dictionary|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=December 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221205330/http://www.esperanto.mobi/en/dictionary-esperanto-english/Usono|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esperanto.mobi/en/dictionary-esperanto-english/usonano|title=usonano|work=Esperanto–English Dictionary|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201232/http://www.esperanto.mobi/en/dictionary-esperanto-english/usonano|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{in lang|eo}} {{cite web|url=http://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/amerik.html|title=Reta Vortaro|trans-title=Internet Dictionary|access-date=December 21, 2014|archive-date=December 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221211241/http://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/amerik.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Since the late 18th century ''American'' has been used in both the historical continental sense and to refer to the United States of America. Though the English and Spanish cognates have multiple, nearly identical meanings today, the common unqualified form in the respective language often differs.


==History==
==Disagreement over meaning==
].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-24-america-turns-500_N.htm?csp=34 |title=Cartographer Put 'America' on the Map 500 years Ago |work=USA Today |location=Washington, D.C. |date=April 24, 2007 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=November 30, 2008 |archive-date=January 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124162928/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-24-america-turns-500_N.htm?csp=34 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
Of the thirty five sovereign countries in North and South America, only the United States of America contains the word ''America'' within its longform name. The use of ''American'' as a national ] for U.S. citizens has been frequently challenged primarily by Latin Americans.<ref>{{cite journal | first = H. L. | last = Mencken | url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-1283(194712)22%3A4%3C241%3ANFA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 | title = Names for Americans | journal = American Speech | volume = 22 | number = 4 | month = December | year = 1947 | pages = 241&ndash;256}}</ref>
The name ''America'' was coined by ] from ''Americus Vesputius'', the Latinized version of the name of ] (1454–1512), the ] explorer who mapped South America's east coast and the ] Sea in the early 16th century. Later, Vespucci's published letters were the basis of ], which is the first usage of ''America''. The adjective ''American'' subsequently denoted the New World.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/americaname_01.shtml |title=The Naming of America |work=BBC |date=March 29, 2011 |access-date=September 25, 2020 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108114052/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/americaname_01.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>


In the 16th century, European usage of ''American'' denoted the native inhabitants of the New World.<ref name="OED">{{subscription required}} {{cite encyclopedia|url=http://dictionary.oed.com.dax.lib.unf.edu/cgi/entry/50007152?query_type=word&queryword=American&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=870u-gw0naW-7329&hilite=50007152|title=American|encyclopedia=]|access-date=November 27, 2008}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The earliest recorded use of this term in English is in ]'s 1568 translation of ]'s book '']''; Thévet himself had referred to the natives as ''Ameriques''.<ref name="OED"/> In the following century, the term was extended to European settlers and their descendants in the Americas. The earliest recorded use of "English-American" dates to 1648, in ]'s ''The English-American his travail by sea and land: or, a new survey of the West India's''.<ref name="OED"/>
===Political-cultural views===
====Latin American countries====
Latin Americans consider everyone in the Americas to be ''americanos''. Use of the word to refer specifically to U.S. citizens may be seen as ignorant, arrogant, incorrect, or even self-serving depending on the context.{{fact}} The same sentiments may apply to the use of the word ''American'' in English. The Luxury Link travel guide advises U.S. nationals traveling in Mexico to avoid referring to themselves as Americans, as Mexicans consider themselves Americans.


In English, ''American'' was used especially for people in ]. ], the leading English lexicographer, wrote in 1775, before the United States declared independence: "That the Americans are able to bear taxation is indubitable."<ref name="OED"/> The ] refers to " unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" adopted by the "Representatives of the united States of America" on July 4, 1776.<!-- "united" is not capitalized in this phrase as it appears in the Declaration --><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_zoom_2.html|title=Declaration of Independence|publisher=National Archives|date=July 4, 1776|access-date=August 25, 2017|archive-date=October 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001160408/http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_zoom_2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The official name of the country was reaffirmed on November 15, 1777, when the ] adopted the ], the first of which says, "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'". The Articles further state:
In Latin America, the slippage between the word ''American'' as a relation to the ] of the ] and ''American'' exclusively to refer to U.S. nationals is seen as beneficial to the advances of United States ] in Latin America; namely ] or a diplomatic renewal of the ] depending on contemporary political interests.{{fact}} Also, in American Spanish, the word ''Estadounidense'' is used to describe U.S. nationals, and the use of the word ''American'' to refer to only U.S. nationals is seen as culturally aggressive and ] in nature, especially in countries with strong ] sentiment like ] and ].{{fact}}
{{Blockquote|In Witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day of July in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Eight, and in the Third Year of the independence of America.}}
]


Thomas Jefferson, newly elected president in May 1801 wrote, "I am sure the measures I mean to pursue are such as would in their nature be approved by every American who can emerge from preconceived prejudices; as for those who cannot, we must take care of them as of the sick in our hospitals. The medicine of time and fact may cure some of them."<ref>Letter TJ to Theodore Foster, May 1801, in Paul Leicester Ford ed., ''The Works of Thomas Jefferson'' (1905) 8:50.</ref>
====Spain====
In ], people who have lived in the Western Hemisphere but now live in Spain may be called ''americanos''. The ''Diccionario de la Lengua Española'' (Dictionary of the Spanish Language) published by the Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy), also gives ''estadounidense'' (''United Stater'') as one of the definitions of ''americano'', meaning "someone from the United States or relating to the United States".


In '']'' (1787–88), ] and ] used the adjective ''American'' with two different meanings: one political and one geographic; "the American republic" in ] and in ],<ref name=federalist51>{{cite book|url=http://en.wikisource.org/The_Federalist/51|chapter=The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments|title=The Federalist|number=51|author=Madison, James|archive-date=October 29, 2013|access-date=October 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203249/http://en.wikisource.org/The_Federalist/51|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=federalist70>{{cite book|url=http://en.wikisource.org/The_Federalist_Papers/No._70|author=Hamilton, Alexander|chapter=The Executive Department Further Considered|title=The Federalist|number=70|archive-date=October 29, 2013|access-date=October 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202922/http://en.wikisource.org/The_Federalist_Papers/No._70|url-status=live}}</ref> and, in ], Hamilton used ''American'' to denote the lands beyond the U.S.'s political borders.<ref name=federalist24>{{cite book | first = Alexander | last = Hamilton | title = The Federalist Papers | number = 24 | url = http://en.wikisource.org/The_Federalist/24l | chapter = The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered}}</ref>
====Canada====
In ], their southern neighbour is seldom referred to as "America" with "the United States", "the U.S.", or (informally) "the States" used instead.<ref name="oxfcdn">Fee, Margery and McAlpine, J. 1997. ''Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage.'' (ISBN 0-19-541619-8) Toronto: Oxford University Press; p. 36.</ref> In addition, some Canadians resent being referred to as Americans because of mistaken assumptions that they are U.S. citizens or an inability&mdash;particularly of people overseas&mdash;to distinguish ] and ] ].<ref name="oxfcdn" />Some Canadians protested the use of ''American'' as a national demonym in the past.<ref>{{cite journal|last=de Ford|first=Miriam Allen|year=1927|month=April|title=On the difficulty of indicating nativity in the United States|journal=American Speech|pages=315}}</ref>


Early official U.S. documents show inconsistent usage; the ] with ] used "the United States of North America" in the first sentence, then "the said united States"<!-- all instances of this phrase in the Treaty leaved "united" uncapitalized --> afterwards; "the United States of America" and "the United States of North America" derive from "the United Colonies of America" and "the United Colonies of North America". The Treaty of Peace and Amity of September 5, 1795, between the United States and the ] contains the usages "the United States of North America", "citizens of the United States", and "American Citizens".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1795t.asp | title = The Barbary Treaties: Treaty of Peace and Amity | access-date = October 26, 2013 | archive-date = August 19, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150819071028/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1795t.asp | url-status = live }}</ref>{{synthesis inline|date=October 2013}}
====Portugal====
''Americano'' is generally used to refer to the United States only. In ] Brazilians are always called ''Brasileiros'' and never ''Americanos''.


]'' (1796)]]
However, the usage of ''americano'' in specific reference to the United States is not recommended by the Academia das Ciências de Lisboa (Lisbon Science Academy, which regulates language use) because the word ''estado-unidense'' (''estadunidense'', alternative spelling) clearly identifies an ''United Stater''.
U.S. President ], in his ], declaimed that "The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation."<ref>]</ref> Political scientist Virginia L. Arbery notes that, in his ''Farewell Address'':<blockquote> "...Washington invites his fellow citizens to view themselves now as Americans who, out of their love for the truth of liberty, have replaced their maiden names (Virginians, South Carolinians, New Yorkers, etc.) with that of “American”. Get rid of, he urges, “any appellation derived from local discriminations.” By defining himself as an American rather than as a Virginian, Washington set the national standard for all citizens. "Over and over, Washington said that America must be something set apart. As he put it to ], 'In a word, I want an ''American'' character, that the powers of Europe may be convinced we act for ''ourselves'' and not for ''others''.'"<ref>Arbery, Virginia L. (1999), "Washington's Farewell Address and the Form of the American Regime"; In: Gary L. Gregg II and Matthew Spalding, ''Patriot Sage: George Washington and the American Political Tradition'', pp. 204, 206.</ref> </blockquote>As the historian ] has noted: "This was a theme dear to Washington. He wrote to ] that the nation 'must never forget that we are Americans; the remembrance of which will convince us we ought not to be French or English'."<ref>] (1984), ''Cincinnatus: George Washington and the Enlightenment'', pp. 92-93.</ref> Washington's countrymen subsequently embraced his exhortation with notable enthusiasm.


This semantic divergence among North American ], however, remained largely unknown in the Spanish-American colonies. In 1801, the document titled ''Letter to American Spaniards''—published in French (1799), in Spanish (1801), and in English (1808)—might have influenced ]'s ] and its 1811 constitution.<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://www.histal.umontreal.ca/espanol/documentos/la%20carta%20dirigida%20a%20los%20espanoles%20americanos.htm | title = La "Carta dirigida a los españoles americanos", una carta que recorrió muchos caminos..|trans-title=The "Letter directed to Spanish Americans", a letter that traversed many paths...|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127135222/http://www.histal.umontreal.ca/espanol/documentos/la%20carta%20dirigida%20a%20los%20espanoles%20americanos.htm|archive-date=January 27, 2010|author=Bastin, Georges L. Bastin|author2=Castrillón, Elvia R.|journal=Hermeneus|number=6|year=2004|pages=276–290|language=es}}</ref>
====United States====
]
In the ], a significant portion of people described their ] or ] as ''American'', particularly those in ]. This region has a high percentage of people who trace their ancestry to the colonial origins of the United States but often lack records of the specific countries of their ancestors' origins. People who describe themselves as ], ], or ] were coded separately per census tabulation rules as they self-identifed as being ethnic Americans.


The ]' ] refer to the American continents as where they are to build Zion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1.10?lang=eng|title=Articles of Faith 1:10|author=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints|quote=We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent...|access-date=July 15, 2019|archive-date=July 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715032816/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1.10?lang=eng|url-status=live}}</ref>
Usage of the word can vary in diplomatic situations. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is quoted as saying, "''…todos somos americanos''" during a speech in ].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.marrder.com/htw/mar99/national.htm | title = Clinton promises to lobby for more aid |date= ] ] | edition = 149 | first = Suyapa | last = Carias | publisher = HondurasThisWeek}}</ref> His quotation is translated as "''We are all Americans''" by the ]<ref>{{cite news | title = Clinton Hails U.S. Efforts in Storm Zone | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/march99/honduras10.htm |date= ] ] | first = Charles | last = Babington | publisher = ]}}</ref> and ].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/americas/9903/09/clinton.latam.04/index.html | title = Clinton surveys hurricane relief efforts in Central America |date= ] ] | publisher = ]}}</ref>


Common short forms and abbreviations are the ''United States'', the ''U.S.'', the ''U.S.A.'', and ''America''; colloquial versions include the ''U.S. of A.'' and ''the States''. The term '']'' (from the Columbus surname) was a popular name for the U.S. and for the entire geographic Americas; its usage is present today in the ]'s name. Moreover, the womanly personification of Columbia appears in some official documents, including editions of the U.S. dollar.
There is also some dispute about the meaning of ''American'' in the ] to this day.


==Usage at the United Nations==
==''American'' in other contexts==
Use of the term ''American'' for U.S. nationals is common at the ], and financial markets in the United States are referred to as "American financial markets".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2009/090326_GA.doc.htm|title=Financial Reform Recommendations to General Assembly|date=March 26, 2009|publisher=United Nations}}</ref>
{{Globalize/USA}}


], an ], is a recognized territorial name at the United Nations.<ref name=UN>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/ittmig2002/locations/016.htm|title=American Samoa|publisher=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division|access-date=August 6, 2009|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628235834/http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/ittmig2002/locations/016.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
The '']'' (1994) defines American as "An acceptable description for a resident of the ]. It also may be applied to any resident or citizen of nations in North or South America." It also advises that United States should "be spelled out when used as a noun. Use U.S. (no space) only as an adjective."


==Cultural views==
In the entry for America, '']'' (1999) says that the "terms ''America'', ''American(s)'' and ''Americas'' refer not only to the United States, but to all of North America and South America. They may be used in any of their senses, including references to just the United States, if the context is clear. The countries of the Western Hemisphere are collectively ''the Americas''."


===Canada===
===''American'' in international law===
Modern Canadians typically refer to people from the United States as ''Americans'', though they seldom refer to the United States as ''America''; they use the terms ''the United States'', ''the U.S.'', or (informally) ''the States'' instead.<ref name="oxfcdn">{{cite book|author=Fee, Margery|author2=McAlpine, J.|year=1997|title=Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage|url=https://archive.org/details/guidetocanadiane0000feem|url-access=registration|isbn=0-19-541619-8|location=Toronto|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=}}</ref> Because of anti-American sentiment or simply national pride, Canadians never apply the term ''American'' to themselves.<ref>{{cite web | last=Mallinder | first=Lorraine | title=What does it mean to be Canadian? | website=BBC News | date=May 16, 2012 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-radio-and-tv-18086952 | access-date=Nov 23, 2022}}</ref><ref name="The Canada Guide 2020">{{cite web | title=Anti-Americanism | website=The Canada Guide | date=Nov 17, 2020 | url=https://thecanadaguide.com/culture/anti-americanism/ | access-date=Nov 23, 2022 | archive-date=November 23, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123001512/https://thecanadaguide.com/culture/anti-americanism/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Morrison 2003 p. ">{{cite book | last=Morrison | first=K.L. | title=Canadians are Not Americans: Myths and Literary Traditions | publisher=Second Story Press | year=2003 | isbn=978-1-896764-73-3 | page=intro}}</ref> Not being an "American" is a part of ],<ref name="Holtug Lippert-Rasmussen Lægaard 2009 p. 172">{{cite book | last1=Holtug | first1=N. | last2=Lippert-Rasmussen | first2=K. | last3=Lægaard | first3=S. | title=Nationalism and Multiculturalism in a World of Immigration | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-230-37777-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nK2GDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA172 | access-date=Nov 23, 2022 | page=172}}</ref><ref name="Schwartz 2022 p. 6">{{cite book | last=Schwartz | first=M.A. | title=Public Opinion and Canadian Identity | publisher=University of California Press | series=UC Press voices revived | year=2022 | isbn=978-0-520-37363-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tI2EEAAAQBAJ&pg=PR6 | access-date=Nov 23, 2022 | page=6}}</ref> with many Canadians resenting being referred to as Americans or mistaken for U.S. citizens.<ref name="CBC 2010">{{cite web | title=Canadians: Do you take offence if you're mistaken for American? - Point of View | website=CBC | date=Aug 12, 2010 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news2/pointofview/2010/08/canadians-do-you-take-offence-if-youre-mistaken-for-american.html | access-date=Nov 23, 2022 | archive-date=November 23, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123001518/https://www.cbc.ca/news2/pointofview/2010/08/canadians-do-you-take-offence-if-youre-mistaken-for-american.html | url-status=live }}</ref> This is often due to others' inability, particularly overseas, to distinguish ] from ], by their ] or other cultural attributes.<ref name="oxfcdn"/> Some Canadians have protested the use of ''American'' as a national demonym.<ref>{{cite journal|last=de Ford|first=Miriam Allen|date=April 1927|title=On the difficulty of indicating nativity in the United States|journal=American Speech|volume=2|issue=7|page=315|doi=10.2307/452894|jstor=452894}}</ref> People of American origin in Canada are categorized as "Other North American origins" by ] for purposes of ] counts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo26a-eng.htm|title=Population by selected ethnic origins, by province and territory (2006 Census)|date=15 January 2001|publisher=Statistics Canada|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=May 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516231123/http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo26a-eng.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
In legal circles a citizen of the United States is usually referred to as a ''U.S. citizen'', not an ''American citizen'', though the latter term is common in popular usage. The following excerpt is from the ]:


===Spain and Hispanic America===
{{quotation|Only air carriers that are U.S. citizens are permitted to operate domestic air services or operate international air services as a "U.S." carrier; non-U.S. citizens may own and control foreign air carriers that operate between the U.S. and foreign points.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=34859&pageno=12 | title = North American Free Trade Agreement |date= ] ]}}</ref>}}
The use of ''American'' as a national ] for U.S. nationals is challenged, primarily by Latin Americans.<ref name="Mencken"/> Spanish speakers in Spain and Latin America use the term {{lang|es|estadounidense}} to refer to people and things from the United States (from {{lang|es|Estados Unidos}}), while {{lang|es|americano}} refers to the ] as a whole.<ref name="rae-americano"/><ref name="rae-estadounidense">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Diccionario de la lengua española|title=estadounidense|url=http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=estadounidense|publisher=Real Academia Española|quote= 1. adj. Native of the United States of America|language=es|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194745/http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=estadounidense|url-status=live}} "1. adj. Natural de los Estados Unidos de América."</ref> The term {{lang|es|gringo}} is also accepted in many parts of Latin America to refer to a person or something from the United States;<ref name="rae-gringo">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Diccionario de la lengua española|title=gringo|url=http://dle.rae.es/?id=JY0Q3cz|publisher=Real Academia Española|quote= 3. adj. Bol., Chile, Col., Cuba, Ec., El Salv., Hond., Nic., Par., Peru, Ur. and Ven. Native of the United States of America|language=es|access-date=September 8, 2016|archive-date=October 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004204832/http://dle.rae.es/?id=JY0Q3cz|url-status=live}} "3. adj. Bol., Chile, Col., Cuba, Ec., El Salv., Hond., Nic., Par., Perú, Ur. y Ven. estadounidense."</ref> however, this term may be ambiguous in certain parts. Up to and including the 1992 edition, the {{lang|es|Diccionario de la lengua española}}, published by the ], did not include the United States definition in the entry for {{lang|es|americano}}; this was added in the 2001 edition.<ref name="rae-americano"/>{{efn|name=rae-americano-note}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|publisher=Real Academia Española |encyclopedia=Diccionario usual |year=1992 |edition=21st |page=89 |title=americano |url=http://buscon.rae.es/ntlle/SrvltGUILoginNtlle |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501220632/http://buscon.rae.es/ntlle/SrvltGUILoginNtlle |archive-date=2006-05-01 }} To access, click the magnifying glass in the upper left-hand corner. In the field titled "Lema", type "americano"; for the "Resultados" radio buttons, select "Diccionario"; in the field in the selection field for "Diccionarios", make sure that "1992 Academica Usual" is selected. Then click "Buscar".</ref> The Real Academia Española advised against using {{lang|es|americanos}} exclusively for U.S. nationals:<ref name="rae-estadosunidos"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=4EWtRO1VZD6v7sHSpo|title=Estados Unidos|publisher=Real Academia Española|access-date=2015-11-03|archive-date=January 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128110303/http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=4EWtRO1VZD6v7sHSpo|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{quote| It is common, and thus acceptable, to use {{lang|es|norteamericano}} as a synonym of {{lang|es|estadounidense}}, even though strictly speaking, the term ''norteamericano'' can equally be used to refer to the inhabitants of any country in North America, it normally applies to the inhabitants of the United States. But ''americano'' should not be used to refer exclusively to the inhabitants of the United States, an abusive usage which can be explained by the fact that in the United States, they frequently abbreviate the name of the country to "America" (in English, with no accent).{{efn|name=rae-americano-note| {{lang|es|Está muy generalizado, y resulta aceptable, el uso de norteamericano como sinónimo de estadounidense, ya que, aunque en rigor el término norteamericano podría usarse igualmente en alusión a los habitantes de cualquiera de los países de América del Norte o Norteamérica, se aplica corrientemente a los habitantes de los Estados Unidos. Pero debe evitarse el empleo de americano para referirse exclusivamente a los habitantes de los Estados Unidos, uso abusivo que se explica por el hecho de que los estadounidenses utilizan a menudo el nombre abreviado América (en inglés, sin tilde) para referirse a su país.}} }} }}


===Portugal and Brazil===
===''American'' in U.S. law, generally===
Generally, {{lang|pt|americano}} denotes "U.S. citizen" in ].<ref name="pt-americano"/> Usage of {{lang|pt|americano}} to exclusively denote people and things of the U.S. is discouraged by the ],{{Citation needed|reason=This claim needs a reliable source. In its website, the Academy uses the words americano or norte-americano as a denonym for their American foreign correspondents (correspondentes estrangeiros in Portuguese). |date=May 2019}} because the specific word {{lang|pt|estado-unidense}} (also {{lang|pt|estadunidense}}) clearly denotes a person from the United States. The adjective currently used by the Portuguese press is {{lang|pt|norte-americano}}. <ref>{{cite web | url= https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-portuguese/american |title = American English to Portuguese |author =<!--Not Stated--> |publisher = Cambridge.org | access-date = June 20, 2024}} </ref>
In the 6th Edition of '']'', American is defined as "Of or pertaining to the United States." In the two newer editions of the same dictionary there is no entry for American.


In ], the term {{lang|pt|americano}} is used to address both that which pertains to the ] and that which pertains to the U.S.; the particular meaning is deduced from context. Alternatively, the term {{lang|pt|norte-americano}} ("North American") is also used in more informal contexts, while {{lang|pt|estadunidense}} (of the U.S.) is the preferred form in academia. Use of the three terms is common in schools, government, and media. The term {{lang|pt|América}} is used exclusively for the whole continent, and the U.S. is called {{lang|pt|Estados Unidos}} ("United States") or {{lang|pt|Estados Unidos da América}} ("United States of America"), often abbreviated {{lang|pt|EUA}}.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}
===''American'' in U.S. marketplace regulation===
Products labeled, advertised, or marketed in the U.S. as "]" must be "all or virtually all made in the U.S." The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in order to prevent deception and unfair competition, considers an unqualified "American Made" claim to be an express claim of U.S. manufacture. "The ] gives the Commission the power to bring law enforcement actions against false or misleading claims that a product is of U.S. origin."


==''U.S. national'' in other languages== ==In other contexts==
"American" in the 1994 '']'' was defined as, "An acceptable description for a resident of the United States. It also may be applied to any resident or citizen of nations in North or South America." Elsewhere, the ''AP Stylebook'' indicates that "United States" must "be spelled out when used as a noun. Use U.S. (no space) only as an adjective."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://writingexplained.org/ap-style/ap-style-united-states|title=AP Style United States|website=Writing Explained|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-20}}</ref>
], ], ], ], ], ], ], popular ] and ] speakers may use ''American'' (Japanese: アメリカ人 roma-ji: amerika-jin), ({{lang-ru|американец, американка,}}) (Mandarin Chinese: pinyin- ''měiguórén'', traditional- 美國人, simplified- 美国人) to refer to U.S. citizens. These languages generally have other terms for U.S. nationals; for example, there is ''U.S. Amerikaner'' in German, ''étatsunien'' in French, or ''statunitense'' in Italian.


The entry for "America" in '']'' from 1999 reads:
In ], ''estadounidense'', ''estado-unidense'' or ''estadunidense'' are preferred to ''americano'' for U.S. nationals;{{fact}} the latter tends to refer to any resident of the Americas and not necessarily from the United States; English spoken in Latin America often makes this distinction as well.{{fact}} In Portuguese, ''estado-unidense'' is the recommended form by language regulators but it is less frequently used than ''Americano''.
{{quote| terms "America", "American(s)" and "Americas" refer not only to the United States, but to all of North America and South America. They may be used in any of their senses, including references to just the United States, if the context is clear. The countries of the Western Hemisphere are collectively 'the Americas'.}}


Media releases from the ] and ] frequently use "America" to refer to the United States, and "American" to denote something or someone from the United States.<ref>{{cite speech|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/homilies/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_hom_19651004_yankee-stadium_en.html|title=Homily of the Holy Father Paul VI|location=Yankee Stadium, New York|date=October 4, 1965|author-link=Pope Paul VI|author=Pope Paul VI}}</ref>
Latin Americans also may employ the term ''norteamericano'' (''North American''), which itself conflates the United States and Canada. However, this term may also refer to anyone from the North American continent, which also includes Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.


===International law===
Worldwide, speakers of ] use the term "Usono" to refer to the ], from the initials for "Unuiĝintaj Ŝtatoj de Nordameriko" (USN, pronounced as "oo-SO-no") hence a ] or ] of the United States is referred to as an "usonano". The ] terms for ] and for South Americans, by ] rather than ], are Nordamerikano and Sudamerikano, respectively.
{{synthesis|date=October 2013}}
At least one international law uses ''U.S. citizen'' in defining a citizen of the United States rather than ''American citizen''; for example, the English version of the ] includes:
{{quote|Only air carriers that are "citizens of the United States" may operate aircraft in domestic air service (cabotage) and may provide international scheduled and non-scheduled air service as U.S. air carriers...
Under the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, a "citizen of the United States" means:
:(a) an individual who is a U.S. citizen;
:(b) a partnership in which each member is a U.S. citizen; or
:(c) a U.S. corporation of which the president and at least two-thirds of the board of directors and other managing officers are U.S. citizens, and at least 75 percent of the voting interest in the corporation is owned or controlled by U.S. citizens.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sice.oas.org/trade/nafta/anx1usa.asp | work = North American Free Trade Agreement | title = Annex I: Reservations for Existing Measures and Liberalization Commitments (Chapters 11, 12, and 14) | date = October 7, 1992 | access-date = October 27, 2013 | archive-date = October 29, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190838/http://www.sice.oas.org/trade/nafta/anx1usa.asp | url-status = live }}</ref>}}


Many international treaties use the terms ''American'' and ''American citizen'':
Adjectives derived from "United States" (such as ''United Statian'') appear awkward in English, but similar constructions exist in Spanish (''estadounidense'' or ''estadinense''), Portuguese (''estado-unidense'', ''estadunidense'') and ] (''yhdysvaltalainen'': from ''Yhdysvallat'', United States); and also in French (''états-unien'') and Italian (''statunitense'').
* 1796 – The treaty between the United States and the ] of the Regency of ] on March 7, 1796, protected "American citizens".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/collection/pres_1796mar7.html|title=Treaty between US and the Dey and Regency of Algiers, March 7, 1796|work=Gilder Lehrman Collection Documents|publisher=PBS|access-date=August 24, 2017|archive-date=December 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205044411/http://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/collection/pres_1796mar7.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1806 – The ] between ] and United States referred to "American citizens".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/one/louispur.htm|title=The Louisiana Purchase Treaty|work=Archives of The West|publisher=PBS|access-date=August 24, 2017|archive-date=August 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809002530/http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/one/louispur.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1825 – The treaty between the United States and the ] tribe refers to "American citizens".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Treaties/TreatyWithTheCheyenneTribe1825.html|title=Treaty with The Cheyenne Tribe|date=July 6, 1825|access-date=August 4, 2009|archive-date=October 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011144137/http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Treaties/TreatyWithTheCheyenneTribe1825.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1848 – The ] between ] and the U.S. uses "American Government" to refer to the United States, and "American tribunals" to refer to U.S. courts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/september21/treaty.htm|title=The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo|work=La Prensa|access-date=August 4, 2009|archive-date=March 15, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315010004/http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/september21/treaty.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1858 – The ] between the United States and ] protected "American citizens" and also used "American" in other contexts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://core.ecu.edu/hist/tuckerjo/harris.html|title=The Treaty of Amity and Commerce Between the United States and Japan, 1858 (The Harris Treaty)|access-date=October 27, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190558/http://core.ecu.edu/hist/tuckerjo/harris.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1898 – The ] ending the ], known in Spanish as the {{lang|es|Guerra Hispano–Estadounidense}} ("Spain–United States War") uses "American" in reference to United States troops.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp|title=Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain; December 10, 1898|access-date=August 5, 2009|archive-date=July 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708063629/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1966 – The ] protects "Americans" and "American corporations".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bia.co.th/006.html|title=The United States–Thailand Treaty of Amity|work=Thailand Business and Legal Guide|access-date=2013-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192100/http://www.bia.co.th/006.html|archive-date=2013-10-29|url-status=dead}}</ref>


===U.S. commercial regulation===
The word ] is widely used in parts of ] in reference to U.S. residents, not necessarily in a pejorative way. ''Yanqui'' ('']'') is also very common in some regions. In Argentina, Uruguay and some regions of Brazil, the word ''Gringo'' is also used for any foreigner, not just for U.S. Citizens.
Products that are labeled, advertised, and marketed in the U.S. as "]" must be, as set by the ] (FTC), "all or virtually all made in the U.S." The FTC, to prevent deception of customers and unfair competition, considers an unqualified claim of "American Made" to expressly claim exclusive manufacture in the U.S: "The ] gives the Commission the power to bring law enforcement actions against false or misleading claims that a product is of U.S. origin."<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/madeusa.htm|title=Complying with the Made In the USA Standard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216200917/http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/madeusa.htm|archive-date=February 16, 2006|publisher=Federal Trade Commission}}</ref>


==Alternatives==
With the ] passage of the ], the following words were used to label the ''United States Section'' of that organization: in French, ''étatsunien''; in Spanish, ''estadounidense''. In English the adjective used to indicate relation to the United States is ''U.S.''
{{Main article|Demonyms for the United States}}
There are a number of alternatives to the ] ''American'' as a citizen of the United States that do not simultaneously mean any inhabitant of the Americas. One uncommon alternative is '']'', which usually describes a certain style of residential ] designed by ]. Other alternatives have also surfaced, but most have fallen into disuse and obscurity. '']'s Dictionary of English Usage'' says:
{{quote|The list contains (in approximate historical order from 1789 to 1939) such terms as Columbian, Columbard, Fredonian, Frede, Unisian, United Statesian, Colonican, Appalacian, Usian, Washingtonian, Usonian, Uessian, U-S-ian, Uesican, United Stater.<ref>{{cite book|title=Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage|url=https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersd00merr|url-access=registration|page=|publisher=Merriam-Webster|year=1994|isbn=9780877791324}}</ref>}}
Nevertheless, no alternative to ''American'' is common.<ref name=Wilson/>


==See also==
==Alternative adjectives for U.S. citizens==
{{Portal|North America|South America|Language|United States}}
{{main|Adjectives for U.S. citizens}}
* ]
There are a number of alternatives to the ] "American" (a citizen of the United States) that do not simultaneously mean any inhabitant of the Americas. One uncommon alternative is "]," which usually describes a certain style of residential ] designed by ]. Nevertheless, with the exception of "U.S." or "U.S. citizen", no alternative to "American" has been seriously considered.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Columbia Guide to Standard American English | url = http://www.bartleby.com/68/37/337.html}}</ref>
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}}
<div class="references-small"><references /></div>


==See also== ==Works cited==
* {{cite book | url = https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=58426145 | last = Allen | first = Irving L. | title = The Language of Ethnic Conflict: Social Organization and Lexical Culture | year = 1983 | publisher = Columbia University Press | location = New York | access-date = August 24, 2017 | archive-date = June 26, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120626140450/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=58426145 | url-status = dead }}
* ]
* {{cite book | last = Condon | first = J.C. | year = 1986 | editor-first =J.M.|editor-last=Valdes | title = Culture bound: Bridging the cultural gap in language teaching | url = https://archive.org/details/culturebound00joyc | url-access = registration | pages = | location = Cambridge, UK | publisher = Cambridge University Press|chapter=...So near the United States|isbn=978-0-521-31045-1}}
* ]
* {{cite book | last = Herbst | first = Philip H. | title = Color of Words: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States | year = 1997 | publisher = Intercultural Press | isbn = 1-877864-42-0 }}

==Scholarly sources==
* {{cite book | url = http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=58426145 | last = Allen | first = Irving L. | title = The Language of Ethnic Conflict: Social Organization and Lexical Culture | year =1983 | publisher = Columbia University Press | location = New York}}
* {{cite book | last = Condon | first = J.C. | year = 1986 | editor =J.M. Valdes | title = Culture bound: Bridging the cultural gap in language teaching | pages = 85-93 | location = Cambridge, UK | publisher = Cambridge University Press}} Chapter 8: “…So near the United States”.
* {{cite book | last = Herbst | first = Philip H. | title = Color of Words: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States | year = 1997 | id = ISBN 1-877864-97-8}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Wiktionary|American}}
* {{cite news | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,234240,00.html | title = The trouble with Americans | publisher = ] |date= ], ] | first = John | last = Ryle}}
* {{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/Columnists/Column/0,,234240,00.html | title = The trouble with Americans | newspaper = ] |date= September 7, 1998 | first = John | last = Ryle}}
*

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Latest revision as of 11:40, 30 December 2024

Definitions for the word American

The meaning of the word American in the English language varies according to the historical, geographical, and political context in which it is used. American is derived from America, a term originally denoting all of the Americas (also called the Western Hemisphere), ultimately derived from the name of the Florentine explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci (1451–1512). In some expressions, it retains this Pan-American sense, but its usage has evolved over time and, for various historical reasons, the word came to denote people or things specifically from the United States of America.

In contemporary English, American generally refers to persons or things related to the United States of America; among native English speakers this usage is almost universal, with any other use of the term requiring specification. However, in the past some have argued that "American" should be widened to also include people or things from anywhere in the American continents.

The word can be used as either an adjective or a noun (viz. a demonym). In adjectival use, it means "of or relating to the United States"; for example, "Elvis Presley was an American singer" or "the man prefers American English". In its noun form, the word generally means a resident or citizen of the U.S., but is also used for someone whose ethnic identity is simply "American". The noun is rarely used in English to refer to people not connected to the United States when intending a geographical meaning. When used with a grammatical qualifier, the adjective American can mean "of or relating to the Americas", as in Latin American or Indigenous American. Less frequently, the adjective can take this meaning without a qualifier, as in "American Spanish dialects and pronunciation differ by country" or the names of the Organization of American States and the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN). A third use of the term pertains specifically to the indigenous peoples of the Americas, for instance, "In the 16th century, many Americans died from imported diseases during the European conquest", though this usage is rare, as "indigenous", "First Nations" or "Amerindian" are considered less confusing and generally more appropriate.

Compound constructions which indicate a minority ethnic group, such as "African-Americans" likewise refer exclusively to people in or from the United States of America, as does the prefix "Americo-". For instance, the Americo-Liberians and their language Merico derive their name from the fact that they are descended from African-American settlers, i.e. Blacks who were formerly enslaved in the United States of America.

Other languages

See also: Demonyms for the United States

French, German, Italian, Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian speakers may use cognates of American to refer to inhabitants of the Americas or to U.S. nationals. They generally have other terms specific to U.S. nationals, such as the German US-Amerikaner, French étatsunien, Japanese beikokujin (米国人), and Italian statunitense. These specific terms may be less common than the term American.

In French, états-unien, étas-unien or étasunien, from États-Unis d'Amérique ("United States of America"), is a rarely used word that distinguishes U.S. things and persons from the adjective américain, which denotes persons and things from the United States, but may also refer to "the Americas".

Likewise, German's use of U.S.-amerikanisch and U.S.-Amerikaner observe this cultural distinction, solely denoting U.S. things and people. In normal parlance, the adjective "American" and its direct cognates are usually used if the context renders the nationality of the person clear. This differentiation is prevalent in German-speaking countries, as indicated by the style manual of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (one of the leading German-language newspapers in Switzerland) which dismisses the term U.S.-amerikanisch as both 'unnecessary' and 'artificial' and recommends replacing it with amerikanisch. The respective guidelines of the foreign ministries of Austria, Germany and Switzerland all prescribe Amerikaner and amerikanisch in reference to the United States for official usage, making no mention of U.S.-Amerikaner or U.S.-amerikanisch.

Portuguese has americano, denoting both a person or thing from the Americas and a U.S. national. For referring specifically to a U.S. national and things, some words used are estadunidense (also spelled estado-unidense, "United States person"), from Estados Unidos da América, and ianque ("Yankee")—both usages exist in Brazil (although "americano" is more frequent), but are uncommon in Portugal—but the term most often used, and the only one in Portugal, is norte-americano, even though it could, as with its Spanish equivalent, apply to Canadians and Mexicans as well.

In Spanish, americano denotes geographic and cultural origin in the New World, as well as (infrequently) a U.S. citizen; the more common term is estadounidense ("United States person"), which derives from Estados Unidos de América ("United States of America"). The Spanish term norteamericano ("North American") is frequently used to refer things and persons from the United States, but this term can also denote people and things from Canada and Mexico. Among Spanish-speakers, North America generally does not include Central America or the Caribbean.

Conversely, in Czech, there is no possibility for disambiguation. Američan (m.) and američanka (f.) can refer to persons from the United States or from the continents of the Americas, and there is no specific word capable of distinguishing the two meanings. For this reason, the latter meaning is very rarely used, and word američan(ka) is used almost exclusively to refer to persons from the United States. The usage is exactly parallel to the English word.

In other languages, however, there is no possibility for confusion. For example, the Chinese word for "U.S. national" is měiguórén (simplified Chinese: 美国人; traditional Chinese: 美國人) is derived from a word for the United States, měiguó, where měi is an abbreviation for Yàměilìjiā ("America") and guó is "country". The name for the American continents is měizhōu, from měi plus zhōu ("continent"). Thus, a měizhōurén is an American in the continent sense, and a měiguórén is an American in the U.S. sense.

Korean and Vietnamese also use unambiguous terms, with Korean having Migug (미국(인)) for the country versus Amerika (아메리카) for the continents, and Vietnamese having Hoa Kỳ for the country versus Châu Mỹ for the continents. Japanese has such terms as well (beikoku(jin) ), but they are found more in newspaper headlines than in speech, where amerikajin predominates.

In Swahili, Marekani means specifically the United States, and Mmarekani is a U.S. national, whereas the international form Amerika refers to the continents, and Mwamerika would be an inhabitant thereof. Likewise, the Esperanto word Ameriko refers to the continents. For the country there is the term Usono. Thus, a citizen of the United States is an usonano, whereas an amerikano is an inhabitant of the Americas.

History

America is named after Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.

The name America was coined by Martin Waldseemüller from Americus Vesputius, the Latinized version of the name of Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), the Florentine explorer who mapped South America's east coast and the Caribbean Sea in the early 16th century. Later, Vespucci's published letters were the basis of Waldseemüller's 1507 map, which is the first usage of America. The adjective American subsequently denoted the New World.

In the 16th century, European usage of American denoted the native inhabitants of the New World. The earliest recorded use of this term in English is in Thomas Hacket's 1568 translation of André Thévet's book France Antarctique; Thévet himself had referred to the natives as Ameriques. In the following century, the term was extended to European settlers and their descendants in the Americas. The earliest recorded use of "English-American" dates to 1648, in Thomas Gage's The English-American his travail by sea and land: or, a new survey of the West India's.

In English, American was used especially for people in British America. Samuel Johnson, the leading English lexicographer, wrote in 1775, before the United States declared independence: "That the Americans are able to bear taxation is indubitable." The Declaration of Independence of July 1776 refers to " unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" adopted by the "Representatives of the united States of America" on July 4, 1776. The official name of the country was reaffirmed on November 15, 1777, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first of which says, "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'". The Articles further state:

In Witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day of July in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Eight, and in the Third Year of the independence of America.

British map of the Americas in 1744

Thomas Jefferson, newly elected president in May 1801 wrote, "I am sure the measures I mean to pursue are such as would in their nature be approved by every American who can emerge from preconceived prejudices; as for those who cannot, we must take care of them as of the sick in our hospitals. The medicine of time and fact may cure some of them."

In The Federalist Papers (1787–88), Alexander Hamilton and James Madison used the adjective American with two different meanings: one political and one geographic; "the American republic" in Federalist No. 51 and in Federalist No. 70, and, in Federalist No. 24, Hamilton used American to denote the lands beyond the U.S.'s political borders.

Early official U.S. documents show inconsistent usage; the 1778 Treaty of Alliance with France used "the United States of North America" in the first sentence, then "the said united States" afterwards; "the United States of America" and "the United States of North America" derive from "the United Colonies of America" and "the United Colonies of North America". The Treaty of Peace and Amity of September 5, 1795, between the United States and the Barbary States contains the usages "the United States of North America", "citizens of the United States", and "American Citizens".

Washington's Farewell Address (1796)

U.S. President George Washington, in his 1796 Farewell Address, declaimed that "The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation." Political scientist Virginia L. Arbery notes that, in his Farewell Address:

"...Washington invites his fellow citizens to view themselves now as Americans who, out of their love for the truth of liberty, have replaced their maiden names (Virginians, South Carolinians, New Yorkers, etc.) with that of “American”. Get rid of, he urges, “any appellation derived from local discriminations.” By defining himself as an American rather than as a Virginian, Washington set the national standard for all citizens. "Over and over, Washington said that America must be something set apart. As he put it to Patrick Henry, 'In a word, I want an American character, that the powers of Europe may be convinced we act for ourselves and not for others.'"

As the historian Garry Wills has noted: "This was a theme dear to Washington. He wrote to Timothy Pickering that the nation 'must never forget that we are Americans; the remembrance of which will convince us we ought not to be French or English'." Washington's countrymen subsequently embraced his exhortation with notable enthusiasm.

This semantic divergence among North American anglophones, however, remained largely unknown in the Spanish-American colonies. In 1801, the document titled Letter to American Spaniards—published in French (1799), in Spanish (1801), and in English (1808)—might have influenced Venezuela's Act of Independence and its 1811 constitution.

The Latter-day Saints' Articles of Faith refer to the American continents as where they are to build Zion.

Common short forms and abbreviations are the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America; colloquial versions include the U.S. of A. and the States. The term Columbia (from the Columbus surname) was a popular name for the U.S. and for the entire geographic Americas; its usage is present today in the District of Columbia's name. Moreover, the womanly personification of Columbia appears in some official documents, including editions of the U.S. dollar.

Usage at the United Nations

Use of the term American for U.S. nationals is common at the United Nations, and financial markets in the United States are referred to as "American financial markets".

American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States, is a recognized territorial name at the United Nations.

Cultural views

Canada

Modern Canadians typically refer to people from the United States as Americans, though they seldom refer to the United States as America; they use the terms the United States, the U.S., or (informally) the States instead. Because of anti-American sentiment or simply national pride, Canadians never apply the term American to themselves. Not being an "American" is a part of Canadian identity, with many Canadians resenting being referred to as Americans or mistaken for U.S. citizens. This is often due to others' inability, particularly overseas, to distinguish Canadians from Americans, by their accent or other cultural attributes. Some Canadians have protested the use of American as a national demonym. People of American origin in Canada are categorized as "Other North American origins" by Statistics Canada for purposes of census counts.

Spain and Hispanic America

The use of American as a national demonym for U.S. nationals is challenged, primarily by Latin Americans. Spanish speakers in Spain and Latin America use the term estadounidense to refer to people and things from the United States (from Estados Unidos), while americano refers to the continents as a whole. The term gringo is also accepted in many parts of Latin America to refer to a person or something from the United States; however, this term may be ambiguous in certain parts. Up to and including the 1992 edition, the Diccionario de la lengua española, published by the Real Academia Española, did not include the United States definition in the entry for americano; this was added in the 2001 edition. The Real Academia Española advised against using americanos exclusively for U.S. nationals:

It is common, and thus acceptable, to use norteamericano as a synonym of estadounidense, even though strictly speaking, the term norteamericano can equally be used to refer to the inhabitants of any country in North America, it normally applies to the inhabitants of the United States. But americano should not be used to refer exclusively to the inhabitants of the United States, an abusive usage which can be explained by the fact that in the United States, they frequently abbreviate the name of the country to "America" (in English, with no accent).

Portugal and Brazil

Generally, americano denotes "U.S. citizen" in Portugal. Usage of americano to exclusively denote people and things of the U.S. is discouraged by the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, because the specific word estado-unidense (also estadunidense) clearly denotes a person from the United States. The adjective currently used by the Portuguese press is norte-americano.

In Brazil, the term americano is used to address both that which pertains to the Americas and that which pertains to the U.S.; the particular meaning is deduced from context. Alternatively, the term norte-americano ("North American") is also used in more informal contexts, while estadunidense (of the U.S.) is the preferred form in academia. Use of the three terms is common in schools, government, and media. The term América is used exclusively for the whole continent, and the U.S. is called Estados Unidos ("United States") or Estados Unidos da América ("United States of America"), often abbreviated EUA.

In other contexts

"American" in the 1994 Associated Press Stylebook was defined as, "An acceptable description for a resident of the United States. It also may be applied to any resident or citizen of nations in North or South America." Elsewhere, the AP Stylebook indicates that "United States" must "be spelled out when used as a noun. Use U.S. (no space) only as an adjective."

The entry for "America" in The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage from 1999 reads:

terms "America", "American(s)" and "Americas" refer not only to the United States, but to all of North America and South America. They may be used in any of their senses, including references to just the United States, if the context is clear. The countries of the Western Hemisphere are collectively 'the Americas'.

Media releases from the Pope and Holy See frequently use "America" to refer to the United States, and "American" to denote something or someone from the United States.

International law

This article or section possibly contains synthesis of material that does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (October 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

At least one international law uses U.S. citizen in defining a citizen of the United States rather than American citizen; for example, the English version of the North American Free Trade Agreement includes:

Only air carriers that are "citizens of the United States" may operate aircraft in domestic air service (cabotage) and may provide international scheduled and non-scheduled air service as U.S. air carriers...

Under the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, a "citizen of the United States" means:

(a) an individual who is a U.S. citizen;
(b) a partnership in which each member is a U.S. citizen; or
(c) a U.S. corporation of which the president and at least two-thirds of the board of directors and other managing officers are U.S. citizens, and at least 75 percent of the voting interest in the corporation is owned or controlled by U.S. citizens.

Many international treaties use the terms American and American citizen:

  • 1796 – The treaty between the United States and the Dey of the Regency of Algiers on March 7, 1796, protected "American citizens".
  • 1806 – The Louisiana Purchase Treaty between France and United States referred to "American citizens".
  • 1825 – The treaty between the United States and the Cheyenne tribe refers to "American citizens".
  • 1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between Mexico and the U.S. uses "American Government" to refer to the United States, and "American tribunals" to refer to U.S. courts.
  • 1858 – The Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan protected "American citizens" and also used "American" in other contexts.
  • 1898 – The Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish–American War, known in Spanish as the Guerra Hispano–Estadounidense ("Spain–United States War") uses "American" in reference to United States troops.
  • 1966 – The United States–Thailand Treaty of Amity protects "Americans" and "American corporations".

U.S. commercial regulation

Products that are labeled, advertised, and marketed in the U.S. as "Made in the USA" must be, as set by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), "all or virtually all made in the U.S." The FTC, to prevent deception of customers and unfair competition, considers an unqualified claim of "American Made" to expressly claim exclusive manufacture in the U.S: "The FTC Act gives the Commission the power to bring law enforcement actions against false or misleading claims that a product is of U.S. origin."

Alternatives

Main article: Demonyms for the United States

There are a number of alternatives to the demonym American as a citizen of the United States that do not simultaneously mean any inhabitant of the Americas. One uncommon alternative is Usonian, which usually describes a certain style of residential architecture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Other alternatives have also surfaced, but most have fallen into disuse and obscurity. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage says:

The list contains (in approximate historical order from 1789 to 1939) such terms as Columbian, Columbard, Fredonian, Frede, Unisian, United Statesian, Colonican, Appalacian, Usian, Washingtonian, Usonian, Uessian, U-S-ian, Uesican, United Stater.

Nevertheless, no alternative to American is common.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: "U.S. citizen" is amerika-jin (アメリカ人)
  2. Russian: "U.S. citizen" is amerikanec (американец) for males and amerikanka (американка) for females
  3. The first two definitions in Diccionario de la lengua española (the official dictionary in Spanish) define americano as "Native of America" and "Pertaining or relating to this part of the world" , where América refers to the continent. The fourth definition of americano is defined as "United States person" .
  4. Měiguórén is the Standard Mandarin pronunciation.
  5. Chinese: měiguó ("United States") is written as 美国, měizhōu ("America the continent") is written as 美洲, guó ("country") is written as 国, and zhōu ("continent") is written as 洲.
  6. In Swahili, adding the prefix m(w)- to a word indicates a person (wa- would indicate people).
  7. ^ Está muy generalizado, y resulta aceptable, el uso de norteamericano como sinónimo de estadounidense, ya que, aunque en rigor el término norteamericano podría usarse igualmente en alusión a los habitantes de cualquiera de los países de América del Norte o Norteamérica, se aplica corrientemente a los habitantes de los Estados Unidos. Pero debe evitarse el empleo de americano para referirse exclusivamente a los habitantes de los Estados Unidos, uso abusivo que se explica por el hecho de que los estadounidenses utilizan a menudo el nombre abreviado América (en inglés, sin tilde) para referirse a su país.

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Works cited

External links

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