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

Hopper, Grace Murray 1906-1992.

American naval officer, mathematician, and computer programmer. Noted for her development of programming languages, especially COBOL, she is credited with inventing the first compiler.

(click for a larger image)

Grace Hopper

photographed in the 1980s

hop·per

(hŏpər)

1. One that hops.

a. A usually funnel-shaped container in which materials, such as grain or coal, are stored in readiness for dispensation.

b. A freight car with a door in the floor through which materials are unloaded.

c. A box in which a bill is placed pending formal introduction before a legislature.

d. Informal A place in which something is held in readiness: a studio with many potential blockbusters in the hopper.

[Sense 2, from the shaking or hopping motion of grain hoppers as grain passed through them to the mill.]

Hop·per

(hŏpər), Edward 1882-1967.

American painter whose starkly realistic works include Early Sunday Morning (1930) and Nighthawks (1942).

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