America
English
Alternative forms
- (the United States of America): Merica/ 'Murica/ 'murica (nonstandard, often jocular or representing dialect)
- (North and South America): Americas
Etymology
New Latin America, feminine latinized form of the Italian forename of Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512).
Amerigo is an Italian name derived from a Germanic language and is etymologically related to Henry and Emmerich.
Others, noting the peculiarity of the taking of the Italian version of the first name (not "Vespuccia" or "Alberica"), suggest that the origin are the Amerrisque mountains in Nicaragua, later attributed to Vespucci by Martin Waldseemüller.
A disputed theory is that the name derives from the surname of Richard Amerike (1440–1503), whose surname is an anglicised form of Welsh ap Meurig (“son of Meurig”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kə/
- (weak vowel merger) IPA(key): /əˈmɛɹ.ə.kə/
- Rhymes: -ɛɹɪkə
Audio (UK) (file) Audio (US) (file)
- (nonstandard) IPA(key): /əˈmɚ.ɪ.kə/, /əˈmɚ.ə.kə/
- (obsolete) IPA(key): /əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.keɪ/, /əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kɔː/[1]
Proper noun
America (plural Americas)
- The Americas.
- 1847, Joseph Dalton Hooker, On the Vegetation of the Galapagos Archipelago, as compared with that of some other Tropical Islands and of the Continent of America, DOI:, pages 235–262:
- The results of my examination ... for the most part allied to plants of the cooler part of America, or the uplands of the tropical latitudes ...
- 1890, Encyclopaedia Britannica, page 796:
- the Marsupials or pouched animals, being found throughout the continent of America, from the United States to Patagonia
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 691:
- Franciscan attitudes in the Canaries offered possible precedents for what Europe now came to call ‘the New World’, or, through a somewhat tangled chain of circumstances, ‘America’.
- A female given name.
- A town in Limburg, Netherlands.
- (sometimes proscribed) The United States of America.
- 1837, George Sand, Stanley Young, transl., Mauprat, Cassandra Editions, published 1977, →ISBN, page 237:
- For a long time the dormouse and polecat had seemed to him overfeeble enemies for his restless valour, even as the granary floor seemed to afford too narrow a field. Every day he read the papers of the previous day in the servants' hall of the houses he visited, and it appeared to him that this war in America, which was hailed as the awakening of the spirit of liberty and justice in the New World, ought to produce a revolution in France.
- 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, page 74:
- In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.
- 2014 July 27, “Nuclear Weapons”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 12, HBO:
- And once gain, America is saved from destruction by the heroes in “MEAL Team Six”.
- 2022 April 3, Roisin Conaty & al., Big Fat Quiz of Everything, Channel 4:
- Captain America, how did he get his powers?
I think he... he got bitten by America.
- Captain America, how did he get his powers?
Usage notes
In English, the unqualified term "America" sometimes refers to the United States of America as a synecdoche, with "American" typically referring to people and things from that country. The sense of "the Americas" varies in commonness between regions in contemporary English, but is found in certain circumstances, such as in reference to the Organization of American States.
Synonyms
- (North and South America) Americas
- (United States of America) see United States of America#Synonyms
Derived terms
- AADAOPA
- Central America
- Jewmerica
- 'Murica
- North America
- South America
- United States of America
- Young America
Translations
See also
- (continents) continent; Africa, America (North America, South America), Antarctica, Asia, Europe, Oceania (Category: en:Continents)
References
- Krapp, George Philip (1925) The English Language in America, volume II, New York: Century Co. for the Modern Language Association of America, OCLC 2223337, page 49.
Dutch
Etymology
First attested as Amerika in 1838-1857. Derived from New Latin America. The settlement was named for its remote location.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɑˈmeː.ri.kaː/
audio (file) - Hyphenation: Ame‧ri‧ca
- Homophone: Amerika
Proper noun
America n
- A village in Horst aan de Maas, Limburg, Netherlands.
- Synonym: Turftreiersriek (Carnival nickname)
References
- van Berkel, Gerard; Samplonius, Kees (2018) Nederlandse plaatsnamen verklaard (in Dutch), Mijnbestseller.nl, →ISBN
Italian
Etymology
From New Latin America.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aˈmɛ.ri.ka/
- Rhymes: -ɛrika
- Hyphenation: A‧mè‧ri‧ca
Proper noun
America f
- (continent) the Americas
Derived terms
- America Centrale
- America Latina
- americano
- cardellino d'America
- lucherino d'America
- Nord America / America del Nord / America settentrionale
- Stati Uniti d'America
- Sud America / America del Sud / America meridionale
Descendants
- →⇒ Slavomolisano: Lamerika
Anagrams
- amicare, camerai, macaire, macerai, rameica
Latin
Etymology
Feminine form of Americus, the Latinized form of the forename of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512). Amerigo is the Italian form of a Germanic personal name (see Emmerich).
First recorded in 1507 (together with the related term Amerigen) in the Cosmographiae Introductio, apparently written by Matthias Ringmann, in reference to South America;[1] first applied to both North and South America by Mercator in 1538. Amerigen means "land of Amerigo" and derives from Amerigo and gen, the accusative case of Greek gē "earth". America accorded with the feminine names of Asia, Africa, and Europa.[2]
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /aˈme.ri.ka/, [äˈmɛrɪkä]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /aˈme.ri.ka/, [äˈmɛːrikä]
Proper noun
America f sg (genitive Americae); first declension
- (New Latin) America (the continent).
Declension
First-declension noun, singular only.
| Case | Singular |
|---|---|
| Nominative | America |
| Genitive | Americae |
| Dative | Americae |
| Accusative | Americam |
| Ablative | Americā |
| Vocative | America |
References
- America in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
- John R. Hebert, "The Map That Named America: Library Acquires 1507 Waldseemüller Map of the World" (), Information Bulletin, Library of Congress
- Toby Lester, "Putting America on the Map", Smithsonian, 40:9 (December 2009)
Occitan
Etymology
From New Latin America.
Proper noun
America f
- America (the Americas)
Derived terms
- America del Nòrd
- America del Sud
- american
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin America.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [aˈme.ri.ka]
Proper noun
America f (plural Americi)
- America
Declension
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
| nominative/accusative | (o) Americă | America | (niște) Americi | Americile |
| genitive/dative | (unei) Americi | Americii | (unor) Americi | Americilor |
| vocative | America, Americă | Americilor | ||
Derived terms
- american
- americanism
- americanist
- americanistică
- americaniza
- americanizare
- americanizat
Related terms
- America Centrală
- America de Nord
- America de Sud
- american
Welsh
Etymology
From New Latin America.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aˈmɛrɪka/
Proper noun
America f
- America
Derived terms
- America Ladin (“Latin America”)
- Americanaidd (“American”)
- Americanes (“American woman”)
- Americanwr (“American man”)
- Canolbarth America (“Central America”)
- De America (“South America”)
- Gogledd America (“North America”)
- Unol Daleithiau America (“United States of America”)
Mutation
| Welsh mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| radical | soft | nasal | h-prothesis |
| America | unchanged | unchanged | Hamerica |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | |||