The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition - Hardcover

American Heritage Dictionary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0618701729 ISBN 13: 9780618701728

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006

Synopsis

This newly updated edition of America’s favorite dictionary features revised biographical and geographical entries as well as up-to-date charts and tables for topics such as world currencies and chemical elements. Among the 500 entries new to this update are Amber Alert, blogosphere, gravitino, halo effect, hawala, lycopene, malware, micropolis, proteome, Qi Gong, SARS, shout-out, speed dating, sudoku, Texas hold’em, text message, and wiki.

The renowned American Heritage® Usage Panel, a group of more than 200 distinguished writers, scholars, and scientists, offers advice on problems of grammar and style; engaging notes explain word histories and clarify differences among synonyms; thousands of quotations and example sentences show words in context; and elegant definitions are enhanced by 4,000 full-color photographs, drawings, and maps, making this one of the most readable dictionaries available anywhere.

This dictionary can also be purchased with a fully loadable Windows® / Mac® CD-ROM that contains the entire text of the updated Fourth Edition, 68,000 audio pronunciations, 1,000 full-color photographs and illustrations, and a college-level thesaurus with more than 260,000 synonyms. The CD-ROM has spell-check capability and can be used in conjunction with any Microsoft® Office application to get definitions at the click of a mouse.

About this title

Review:

The latest edition of the American Heritage Dictionary is out, and that's hot news--not just for the resolute followers of lexicographical minutiae, but for the general reading and writing public as well. Why? Because the American Heritage is a long-standing favorite family dictionary (never underestimate the value of pictures) and one of the prime dictionary references for magazines, newspapers, and dot.com content providers. For scads of writers and editors across the U.S., it sets the standard on matters of style and lexicographical authority.

So this new edition is exciting and noteworthy, but how good is it? In its favor, the fourth edition is as current a dictionary as you can get. It's six years fresher than the 1994 version, with 10,000 words and definitions you won't find in the still venerable but now slightly dated third edition. For example, unlike its predecessor (and also unlike the 1996 Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary), this fourth edition covers dot-com, e-commerce, and soccer mom, Ebonics, Viagra, and a surf definition for cruising television channels and the Internet.

Its panel of special consultants includes authorities on anthropology, architecture, cinema, and law, plus military science, music, religion, and sports, and that is reflected in an impressively comprehensive coverage of the arts, culture, and technology. Sadly, however, there are no medical consultants on the panel, and that loss is felt in some substandard medical definitions. Other flaws: there's a greater than usual tendency to define a word with a form of the same word--for example, fuzzy, whose first two definitions are "1. covered with fuzz." and "2. of or resembling fuzz." And some definitions seem needlessly wordy, such as the entry for furious, which is "full of or characterized by extreme anger; raging." Compare that with the more succinct Oxford Encyclopedic entry: "1. extremely angry. 2. full of fury."

On the other hand, there are valuable entries throughout the dictionary supplying additional information on synonyms, usage, or word history, and these extras, such as the history of diatribe and the usage notes on discomfit, are interesting. The layout is easy on the eyes, with dark blue/green bold type setting the words apart from their definitions, and 4,000 color photographs, maps, and illustrations that are both useful and delightful. On one page, the margin provides color depictions of Francis Bacon, bacterium, and a Bactrian camel. Theodore Roosevelt and a rooster share another margin, while a third page offers Isak Dinesen, a dingo, and dinoflagellate. It is a fascinating book to peruse, and a compellingly scholarly addition to the American Heritage Dictionary line. --Stephanie Gold

From the Inside Flap:

* Over 70,000 entries
* Thoroughly revised and updated
* 1,000 new words and meanings
* Over 400 photographs and illustrations
* Expert guidance on correct usage

Based on the bestselling American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

American Heritage® dictionaries are widely known as the most innovative and informative dictionaries in today's market. This all-new fourth edition of the best-selling classic continues that tradition with its clear and precise definitions, its expert usage guidance, and its wealth of illustrations. Newly updated to reflect our changing language, this revised edition is the most up-to-date and authoritative dictionary available today.

* More than a thousand new entries for such terms as e-tailer, zine, bioreserve, chatroom, red card, domestic partner

* More biographical and geographical entries than any other paperback, thoroughly updated for the new millennium

* The most lavishly illustrated dictionary on the market -- with over 400 images

* Expert usage guidance based on the American Heritage® Usage Panel

* Regional notes from around the country

* Hundreds of synonym lists, fascinating etymologies, and much more

American Heritage® Dictionaries. Setting a new standard.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0618701729
• ISBN 13: 9780618701728
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 2074