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

Wil·son

(wĭlsən)

A city of east-central North Carolina east of Raleigh. It has a large tobacco market.

Wilson, Edith Bolling 1872-1961.

First Lady of the United States (1915-1921) as the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She was actively involved in government during the serious illness of her husband (1919-1920).

Wilson, Charles Thomson Rees 1869-1959.

British physicist. He shared a 1927 Nobel Prize for devising the cloud chamber.

Wilson, August 1945-2005.

American playwright who won a Pulitzer Prize for Fences (1985) and The Piano Lesson (1987).

Wilson, Mount

1. A mountain, 1,740 m (5,710 ft) high, in the San Gabriel Mountains of southwest California northeast of Pasadena. Its observatory was established in 1904.

2. A peak, 4,342 m (14,246 ft) high, in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado.

Wilson, E(dward) O(sborne) Born 1929.

American biologist whose research on ants led to the development of a new scientific discipline outlined in his 1975 book Sociobiology.

Wilson, (James) Harold Baron Wilson of Rievaulx. 1916-1995.

British politician who served as prime minister (1964-1970 and 1974-1976). His administration was marked by turmoil in Rhodesia and Northern Ireland and an economic crisis.

Wilson, (Thomas) Woodrow 1856-1924.

The 28th president of the United States (1913-1921), whose administration was marked by World War I and the introduction of prohibition. At the Paris Peace Conference (1919) he included the establishment of the League of Nations as a proviso of the Treaty of Versailles. Although he was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize, he was unable to convince the US Senate to ratify the treaty.

Wil·soni·an (-sōnē-ən) adj.

(click for a larger image)

Woodrow Wilson

Wilson, James 1742-1798.

Scottish-born American Revolutionary patriot and jurist. A member of the Constitutional Convention (1787), where he played an important part in drafting the US Constitution, he later served as an associate justice of the US Supreme Court (1789-1798).

Wilson, Harriet c.1827?-1863?

American author whose work Our Nig (1859) was the first novel by an African American published in the United States.

Wilson, Edmund Beecher 1856-1939.

American zoologist who undertook detailed studies of the cell, including cell structure and division and the significance of chromosomes in heredity.

Wilson, Edmund 1895-1972.

American literary critic whose influential works include Axel's Castle (1931), a study of the symbolist movement, and Patriotic Gore (1962), a critique of literature from the Civil War era.

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.

American Heritage Dictionary Products

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

THE USAGE PANEL

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

American Heritage Dictionary Products