The Facts On File STUDENT’S DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH Cynthia A. Barnhart iju$fm.indd i 10/9/07 10:32:48 AM T e Facts On File Student’s Dictionary of American English Copyright © 2008 by Cynthia A. Barnhart All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barnhart, Cynthia A. T e Facts on File student’s dictionary of American English / Cynthia Barnhart. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-6379-6 (alk. paper) 1. English language—Dictionaries, Juvenile. 2. English language—Dictionaries. I. Facts on File, Inc. II. Title. III. Title: Student’s dictionary of American English. PE1628.5.B38 2007 423—dc22 2007023460 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can fi nd Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfi le.com Text design by Erika Arroyo Cover design by Salvatore Luongo Printed in the United States of America VB CGI 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 T is book is printed on acid-free paper. iju$fm.indd i 10/9/07 10:32:49 AM CONTENTS Preface iv Explanatory Notes vi Entries A to Z 1 iju$fm.indd i 10/9/07 10:32:49 AM PREFACE T e fi rst purpose of any student’s dictionary is by so little diff erence that the ordinary student to provide the basic information necessary to be or general user is hard pressed to understand able to understand a meaning, decipher a pro- the distinction. In this dictionary, such entries nunciation, make a correct syllable break, and have been trimmed to core meanings; shades of employ vocabulary appropriate to a particular meaning are illustrated by phrases or sentences situation. T e Facts On File Student’s Dictionary that follow a defi nition, not by diff erent defi ni- of American English is designed to provide such tions entirely. information as accurately, concisely, and clearly T e editor has eschewed overreliance on usage as possible. Its modest entry list of about 90,000 labels (Slang, Informal) as well, using them only words includes the vocabulary most of us use where the user should be alerted to the level of every day in ordinary writing and encounter in use, so that an informed decision can be made as reading a newspaper, novel, magazine, or online to whether a particular word is appropriate to a article. It also includes a selection of widely used particular context. Likewise, archaic vocabulary new terms in English from science and technol- has been systematically reduced to those poetic ogy and contemporary American culture. archaisms and other vestiges of ancient vocabu- Each entry of the standard vocabulary has lary that students are most likely to encounter. been evaluated and revised according to cur- T e argument that a student might encounter rent usage. T e English language of en adds a particular archaic term does not outweigh the new meanings to “old words,” which have been necessity of using available space in the diction- pressed into service to describe changing times, ary to cover more completely current usage perceptions, and attitudes. In order to call atten- of words whose defi nitions have expanded in tion to extended and new meanings for older recent years. While a glossary in a literary text words, the editor of this dictionary has made free will most likely defi ne an archaism, it will not do use of the label Fig. (Figurative) to mark usages the same for the expanded meanings of terms that have strayed from the bounds of a term’s such as marriage or partner, which today have core meaning. Such adaptability is surely what new and diff erent meanings in addition to their makes English a lively and inventive language. core meanings. Along with abundant use of the fi gurative Any dictionary is a refl ection of the work of label, this Student’s Dictionary of American Eng- many people who have contributed their ideas lish radically diff ers from more expansive dic- and knowledge of language to the long line tionaries, and even collegiate dictionaries, in of dictionaries compiled over the years, and its concise treatment of function words—come, any new dictionary draws heavily on works have, go, for, open, etc. T ese are the words so that have preceded it. T e editor has drawn on essential to the basic formulations of English the experience, expertise, and traditions of the that traditional dictionaries of en identify scores people and tools of the dictionary trade. One of meanings for them. Except for the language such tool, without which the dictionary would specialist, most of these meanings are separated descend into a personal account of today’s Eng- iv iju$fm.indd iv 10/9/07 10:32:49 AM T e Facts On File Student’s Dictionary of American English v lish, is a citation fi le, the editor’s primary source. ing Robert K. Barnhart, an especially gif ed and It is a collection of examples of vocabulary and experienced dictionary maker whose insights usage taken from contemporary newspapers, and balanced views have been of great value. magazines, journals, novels—and including, And without the help of Albert Crocco and transcripts of television and radio broadcasts, Vivien Gentile, individuals willing to number, newsletters, and other casual written materials. check, copy, and keep pages in order, the project T is editor had unrestricted access to one of the would surely have foundered. word’s largest citation fi les of American English. T is editor has benefi ted greatly from the Cynthia A. Barnhart advice and assistance of many people, includ- Garrison, New York, 2007 iju$fm.indd v 10/9/07 10:32:50 AM EXPLANATORY NOTES T e Facts On File Student’s Dictionary of Ameri- under arrest, held by the authorities; in cus- can English is a dictionary for the general user tody. [< OF < VL, < L ad– + re– back + stare who has questions about contemporary English stand] —ar·r estʹe r, n. —ar·r estʹm ent, n. vocabulary. T e following notes explain how the dictionary is organized to make it easier for the T e entry word, in boldface, is broken into user to fi nd information. syllables. T e pronunciation is a phonetic respelling ORGANIZATION of the entry word, including accents indicating stress in pronunciation. Variant pronunciations, T e entries in the dictionary are arranged in including those for foreign words, are also pro- one alphabetical list. vided. A pronunciation key is provided on page Guide words at the top of the page indicate viii. the alphabetic span of each two-page spread. Entry words that have the same spelling ar·t ic·u ·l ate (adj. är tikʹy ә lit; v. är tikʹy ә lāt) . . . (homographs) but are diff erent words alto- bi·v a·l ent (bī vāʹ lәnt; bivʹ ә–) . . . gether are listed separately and marked by a superscript homograph number. For example, Infl ected forms follow the pronunciation. T ey are given for all entry words where the bit1 . . . part of a bridle . . . spelling for diff erent parts of speech diff ers from bit2 . . . small piece . . . the form of the entry word, as in the following bit3 . . . unit of information . . . example: blab (blab), v., blabbed, blab·bing . . . Infl ected forms are also individually pro- PARTS OF AN ENTRY nounced where there might be a question about their pronunciation: for·mu·la . . . n., pl. –las, T e sample entries below show the order of –lae (–le) . . . information in this dictionary. T e part of speech indicates the grammati- cal function of a word. In the case of words ac·t ion (akʹ shәn), n. 1 process of acting: a that have more than one part of speech, each is machine in action. 2 thing done; act. 3 way of labeled and defi ned separately within an entry. moving or working; movement. 4 a minor battle Labels provide various kinds of information, or combat between military forces. 5 a lawsuit. and most of them are self-explanatory, such actions, conduct; behavior. as part of speech or a language (French, Latin, take action, a become active. b start working. etc.). For example, c Also, bring action, start a lawsuit. [< F < L actio. See act.] —acʹt ion·l ess, adj. ex li·b ris . . . Latin . . . a ri·v e·d er·c i, ar·r i·v e·d er·c i . . . Italian . . . ar·r est (ә restʹ), v. 1 seize by legal authority; apprehend. 2 catch and hold; capture. 3 stop; or, sometimes, a regionalism, check; halt. —n. 1 a seizing by legal authority. 2 a stopping; checking. 3 any device for arresting ar· roy· o . . . SW U.S. motion in a mechanism. vi iju$fm.indd vi 10/9/07 10:32:50 AM T e Facts On File Student’s Dictionary of American English vii A label also shows the level of usage, for Ar·c a·d i·a . . . 1 a mountain district in the S example, Informal or Slang. (See also Special part of ancient Greece, famous for the simple, Features, below.) T e label Archaic indicates that contented life of its people. 2 Fig. a place of a term is not considered part of the modern contentment. vocabulary; writers will sometimes deliberately use an archaism for eff ect. Many usages marked Informal are widely Numbered defi nitions distinguish between dif- used in conversation and can be freely used in ferent meanings for an entry word. In general, the writing except when a more formal tone may most common meaning is given fi rst. Figurative be required, as, for example, in applying for a meanings are of en given af er the core or concrete job, writing a term paper, etc. We have used meaning to highlight semantic development. the label Informal very liberally because of the Idioms associated with an entry word are widespread use among writers of many words listed separately and defi ned af er the last defi - and usages that entered English as slang but nition. T e full idiom (and any variant forms) is have become integral parts of the common printed in boldface type followed by the defi ni- vocabulary. By contrast, the Slang label has tion or defi nitions for it. been used very sparingly. T e writer should T e etymology, a brief language history of a be aware that slang is generally not used in word, comes at the end of all defi nitions, includ- formal writing but is usually acceptable to use ing the idioms. A complete list of abbreviations in emails and other writing among friends and and symbols used in the etymologies is provided contemporaries. below. T e dictionary also distinguishes between T e last part of the entry contains derived combining for ms, which are abstracted from forms for the entry word. T ey are printed in whole words and which combine with other boldface type and broken into syllables, followed words to make new ones (bio–, as in biodegrad- by a part of speech, as at the entry ex·h aust . . . able), and pref xes (arch–, as in archduke, arch- —ex·haustʹi ·b le, adj. —ex·h aust´i ·b ilʹi ·t y, n. liberal, archencephalon). COMPLETE SPECIAL FEATURES PRONUNCIATION KEY T e equal sign (=) is used in the dictionary for exactly equivalent terms and cross-refer to the T e pronunciation of each word is shown preferred or more widely used term that has just af er the word, in this way: ab·bre·vi·ate the same meaning (for example, ben·z ol . . . 1 (ә bre¯ʹvi ¯at). T e letters and signs used are ⫽benzene . . .). pronounced as in the words on page viii. T e Words added to a defi nition following a semi- mark ʹ is placed af er a syllable with primary, colon can be used as substitutes for the entry or strong, accent, as in the example above. word (for example, bit·ing . . . adj. . . . 2 sarcastic; T e mark ´ af er a syllable shows a second- sneering). T ey are not, however, exact equiva- ary, or lighter, accent, as in ab·bre·vi·a·tion lents of the entry word. (ә bre¯´vi ¯aʹshәn). T e fi gurative label (Fig.) generally indicates Some words, taken from foreign languages, that a particular meaning for a word has been are spoken with sounds that otherwise do not broadened to encompass more than a word’s occur in English. Symbols for these sounds are core or literal meaning. For example, given as “Foreign Sounds.” iju$fm.indd vi 10/9/07 10:32:51 AM viii Explanatory Notes a hat, cap i i t, pin, antimatter; p pet, cup a¯ age, face fi nal syllable as in r run, try ã care, air city s say, yes ä father, far ¯ı ice, fi ve sh she, rush t tell, it b bad, rob j jam, enjoy th thin, both ch child, much k kind, seek th then, smooth d did, red l land, coal m me, am u cup, son e let, best n no, in u put, book e¯ equal, see ng long, bring ü rule, move ėr term, learn u¯ use, music o hot, rock f fat, if o¯ open, go v very, save g go, bag ô order, all w will, woman h he, how oi oil, toy y you, yet ou out, now z zero, breeze zh measure, seizure ә occurs only in unaccented syllables and represents the sound of a in about, e in taken, i in pencil, o in lemon, and u in circus. FOREIGN SOUNDS y as in French lune, German süss. Pro- n a s in French bon. T e n is not pro- nouce ¯e as in equal with the lips nounced, but shows that the vowel rounded for ü as in rule. before it is nasalized. æ a s in French peu, German könig. Pro- h a s in German ach, Scottish loch. Pro- nounce ¯a as in age with the lips nounce k without closing the breath rounded for o¯ as in open. passage. ETYMOLOGY KEY abl. ablative lit. literally accus. accusative masc. masculine alter. alteration neut. neuter appar. apparently orig. origin, original, originally assoc. associated, association pp. past participle compar. comparative ppr. present participle dial. dialect, dialectal (prob.) probably dim. diminutive ref. reference fem. feminine superl. superlative gen. genitive trans. translation imit. imitative ult. ultimately inf. infi nitive uncert. uncertain infl . infl uenced var. variant irreg. irregular, irregularly ? possibly lang. language < from, derived from, taken from iju$fm.indd vi 10/9/07 10:32:52 AM T e Facts On File Student’s Dictionary of American English ix LANGUAGE ABBREVIATIONS AF Anglo-French Med.Gk. Medieval Greek (700–1500) Am. Ind. American Indian Med.L Medieval Latin (700–1500) Ar. Arabic Mex. Mexican indigenous languages Aram. Aramaic MFr Middle French (1400–1600) Dan. Danish MHG Middle High German (1100–1450) Du. Dutch MLG Middle Low German (1100–1450) E English NL New Latin (af er 1500) Egypt. Egyptian Norw. Norwegian F French O Old Flem. Flemish OE Old English (before 1100) Fris. Frisian OF Old French (before 1400) G German OHG Old High German (before 1100) Gk. Greek OS Old Saxon Gmc. Germanic Pers. Persian Heb. Hebrew Pg. Portuguese HG High German Pol. Polish Hind. Hindustani Pr. Provençal Hung. Hungarian Rom. Romanic Ital. Italian Rum. Romanian Jap. Japanese Russ. Russian L Latin Scand. Scandinavian LG Low German Scot. Scottish LGk. Late Greek (300–700) Skt. Sanskrit LL Late Latin (300–700) Sp. Spanish M Middle Sw. Swedish ME Middle English (1100–1500) Turk. Turkish Med. Medieval VL Vulgar Latin ABBREVIATIONS FREQUENTLY USED IN THIS BOOK (Note: Certain abbreviations used chiefl y in Bacteriol. Bacteriology the etymologies will be found in the complete b.c. b efore Christ; before the birth etymology key on the previous page.) of Christ Biochem. Biochemistry ab. about Biol. Biology abbrev. abbreviation Bot. Botany a.d. a nno Domini; in the year of the Brit. British Lord; since the birth of Christ C central adj. adjective Chem. Chemistry adv. adverb Class. Myth. C lassical Mythology (Greek Am. A mericanism (applied to words and Roman Mythology) or meanings that originated in Colloq. Colloquial the United States) Com. Commerce Anat. Anatomy compar. comparative Ant. Antonym conj. conjunction Archit. Architecture def. defi nition Astron. Astronomy Deut. Deuteronomy iju$fm.indd ix 10/9/07 10:32:52 AM