use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

dean (dēn)
Share:
n.
1.
a. An administrative officer in charge of a college, faculty, or division in a university.
b. An officer of a college or high school who counsels students and supervises the enforcement of rules.
2. Ecclesiastical The head of the chapter of canons governing a cathedral or collegiate church.
3. Roman Catholic Church A priest appointed to oversee a group of parishes within a diocese.
4. The senior member of a body or group: the dean of the Washington diplomatic corps.

[Middle English deen, from Old French deien, from Late Latin decānus, chief of ten, from decem, ten, or from Greek dekānos, chief of ten (from deka, ten); see dek in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

deanship n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Dean, Jay Hanna Known as "Dizzy." 1911?-1974.
Share:
American baseball player. A pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1930-1937), he is best remembered for his 1934 season, in which he won 30 regular-season games, led the league in strikeouts, and won two World Series games.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Dean (dēn), James Byron 1931-1955.
Share:
American actor remembered for his moody, rebellious persona in films such as East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause (both 1955).
(click for a larger image)
James Dean
photographed in 1955

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.