American (word)
{{Short description|Definitions for the word American}}
{{use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{italic title|string=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.{{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=[https://archive.org/details/columbiaguidetos00wils_0/page/27 27]–28|url=https://archive.org/details/columbiaguidetos00wils_0|url-access=registration}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080316032628/http://www.bartleby.com/68/37/337.html View at Bartleby] However, in the past some have argued that "American" should be widened to also include people or things from anywhere in the American continents.{{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}}{{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}}
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.{{Not verified in body|date=July 2023}} 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
{{also|Demonyms for the United States}}
French, German, Italian, Japanese,{{efn|name=ja-american|Japanese: "U.S. citizen" is {{nihongo||アメリカ人|amerika-jin}}{{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}}}} Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian{{efn|Russian: "U.S. citizen" is {{transl|ru|amerikanec}} ({{lang|ru|американец}}) for males and {{transl|ru|amerikanka}} ({{lang|ru|американка}}) for females{{cite web|url=http://www.wordreference.com/enru/American|title=American|work=WordReference English-Russian Dictionary|year=2013}}}} 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}},{{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}} French {{lang|fr|étatsunien}},{{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=Le Monde|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}} Japanese {{nihongo||米国人|beikokujin}},{{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}} and Italian {{lang|it|statunitense}}.{{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}} These specific terms may be less common than the term American.
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".
Likewise, German's use of {{lang|de|U.S.-amerikanisch}} and {{lang|de|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 {{Lang|de|Neue Zürcher Zeitung}} (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.Vademecum. Der sprachlich-technische Leitfaden der «Neuen Zürcher Zeitung», 13th edition. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zürich 2013, p. 102, s. v. US-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 {{lang|de|U.S.-Amerikaner}} or {{lang|de|U.S.-amerikanisch}}.Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten: [http://www.eda.admin.ch/etc/medialib/downloads/edazen/topics/intla/cintla.Par.0011.File.tmp/lt_080506_statenames_de.pdf „Liste der Staatenbezeichnungen“] {{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: [http://www.bmeia.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/oracle/staatennamen_de.pdf „Liste der Staatennamen und deren Ableitungen in den vom Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten verwendeten Formen“] {{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: [http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/cae/servlet/contentblob/332368/publicationFile/3097/Staatennamen.pdf „Verzeichnis der Staatennamen für den amtlichen Gebrauch in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland“]
Portuguese has {{lang|pt|americano}}, denoting both a person or thing from the Americas and a U.S. national.{{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}} 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.
In Spanish, {{lang|es|americano}} denotes geographic and cultural origin in the New World, as well as (infrequently) a U.S. citizen;{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Diccionario de la lengua española|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}}{{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}}{{efn|The first two definitions in Diccionario de la lengua española (the official dictionary in Spanish) define {{lang|es|americano}} as "Native of America" [{{lang|es|Natural de América}}] and "Pertaining or relating to this part of the world" [{{lang|es|Perteneciente o relativo a esta parte del mundo}}], 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" [{{lang|es|estadounidense}}].}} 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.{{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}} 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 {{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.
In other languages, however, there is no possibility for confusion. For example, the Chinese word for "U.S. national" is {{transl|zh|měiguórén}} ({{zh|t=美國人|s=美国人}}){{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}}{{efn|{{transl|zh|Měiguórén}} is the Standard Mandarin 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".{{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}}{{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}}{{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}} The name for the American continents is {{transl|zh|měizhōu}}, from {{transl|zh|měi}} plus {{transl|zh|zhōu}} ("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}} Thus, a {{transl|zh|měizhōurén}} is an American in the continent sense, and a {{transl|zh|měiguórén}} 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}}.}}
Korean and Vietnamese 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,{{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}} and Vietnamese having {{lang|vi|Hoa Kỳ}} for the country versus {{lang|vi|Châu Mỹ}} for the continents.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Japanese has such terms as well ({{transl|ja|beikoku(jin)}} [{{lang|ja|米国(人)}} versus {{transl|ja|beishū(jin)}} [{{lang|ja|米洲人}}]), but they are found more in newspaper headlines than in speech, where {{transl|ja|amerikajin}} predominates.{{efn|name=ja-american}}{{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}}
In Swahili, {{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.{{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}}{{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}}{{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}}{{efn|In Swahili, adding the prefix m(w)- to a word indicates a person (wa- would indicate people).{{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}}}} Likewise, the Esperanto 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.{{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}}{{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}}{{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}}{{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}}
History
File:Amerigo Vespucci (with turban).jpg.{{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 }}]]
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.{{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 }}
In the 16th century, European usage of American denoted the native inhabitants of the New World.{{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=Oxford English Dictionary|access-date=November 27, 2008}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 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 "[the] unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" adopted by the "Representatives of the united States of America" on July 4, 1776.{{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}} 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:
{{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."Letter TJ to Theodore Foster, May 1801, in Paul Leicester Ford ed., The Works of Thomas Jefferson (1905) 8:50.
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,{{cite book|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/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/wiki/The_Federalist/51|url-status=live}}{{cite book|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/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/wiki/The_Federalist_Papers/No._70|url-status=live}} and, in Federalist No. 24, Hamilton used American to denote the lands beyond the U.S.'s political borders.{{cite book | first = Alexander | last = Hamilton | title = The Federalist Papers | number = 24 | url = http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Federalist/24l | chapter = The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered}}
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".{{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 }}{{synthesis inline|date=October 2013}}
File:Washington's Farewell Address.jpg (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."wikisource:Washington's Farewell Address 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.'"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.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'."Wills, Garry (1984), Cincinnatus: George Washington and the Enlightenment, pp. 92-93. 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.{{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}}
The Latter-day Saints' Articles of Faith refer to the American continents as where they are to build Zion.{{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}}
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".{{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}}
American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States, is a recognized territorial name at the United Nations.{{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}}
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; in English they use the terms the United States, the U.S., or (informally) the States instead.{{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=[https://archive.org/details/guidetocanadiane0000feem/page/36 36]}} Because of anti-American sentiment or simply national pride, Canadians never apply the term American to themselves.{{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}}{{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 }}{{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}} Not being an "American" is a part of Canadian identity,{{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}}{{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}} with many Canadians resenting being referred to as Americans or mistaken for U.S. citizens.{{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 }} This is often due to others' inability, particularly overseas, to distinguish English-speaking Canadians from Americans, by their accent or other cultural attributes. Some Canadians have protested the use of American as a national demonym.{{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}} People of American origin in Canada are categorized as "Other North American origins" by Statistics Canada for purposes of census counts.{{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}}
=Spain and Hispanic America=
The use of American as a national demonym for U.S. nationals is challenged, primarily by Hispanic Americans. Spanish speakers in Spain and Hispanic 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 continents as a whole (from América).{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Diccionario de la lengua española|title=estadounidense|url=http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=estadounidense|publisher=Real Academia Española|quote=[Translated:] 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}} [Original:] "1. adj. Natural de los Estados Unidos de América." The term {{lang|es|gringo}} is also accepted in many parts of Hispanic America to refer to a person or something from the United States;{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Diccionario de la lengua española|title=gringo|url=http://dle.rae.es/?id=JY0Q3cz|publisher=Real Academia Española|quote=[Translated:] 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}} [Original:] "3. adj. Bol., Chile, Col., Cuba, Ec., El Salv., Hond., Nic., Par., Perú, Ur. y Ven. estadounidense." 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 Real Academia Española, did not include the United States definition in the entry for {{lang|es|americano}}; this was added in the 2001 edition.{{efn|name=rae-americano-note}}{{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". The Real Academia Española advised against using {{lang|es|americanos}} exclusively for U.S. nationals:{{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}}
{{quote|[Translated] 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|[Untranslated] {{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=
Generally, {{lang|pt|americano}} denotes "U.S. citizen" in Portugal. Usage of {{lang|pt|americano}} to exclusively denote people and things of the U.S. is discouraged by the Lisbon Academy of Sciences,{{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}}. {{cite web | url= https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-portuguese/american |title = American English to Portuguese |author = |publisher = Cambridge.org | access-date = June 20, 2024}}
In Brazil, the term {{lang|pt|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 {{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}}
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."{{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}}
The entry for "America" in The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage from 1999 reads:
{{quote|[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'.}}
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.{{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}}
=International law=
{{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 North American Free Trade Agreement 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.{{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 }}}}
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".{{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}}
- 1806 – The Louisiana Purchase Treaty between France and United States referred to "American citizens".{{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}}
- 1825 – The treaty between the United States and the Cheyenne tribe refers to "American citizens".{{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}}
- 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.{{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}}
- 1858 – The Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan protected "American citizens" and also used "American" in other contexts.{{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}}
- 1898 – The Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish–American War, known in Spanish as the {{lang|es|Guerra Hispano–Estadounidense}} ("Spain–United States War") uses "American" in reference to United States troops.{{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}}
- 1966 – The United States–Thailand Treaty of Amity protects "Americans" and "American corporations".{{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}}
=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."{{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}}
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:
{{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.{{cite book|title=Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage|url=https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersd00merr|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersd00merr/page/88 88]|publisher=Merriam-Webster|year=1994|isbn=9780877791324}}}}
See also
{{Portal|North America|South America|Language|United States}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
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 = [https://archive.org/details/culturebound00joyc/page/85 85–93] | 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 }}
External links
{{Wiktionary|American}}
- {{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/Columnists/Column/0,,234240,00.html | title = The trouble with Americans | newspaper = The Guardian |date= September 7, 1998 | first = John | last = Ryle}}
Category:Culture of the United States