The American Heritage College Dictionary

by American Heritage

Our best-selling dictionary. With more than 200,000 clear definitions; over 20,000 new words; more than 2,500 illustrations; a style manual; 400 usage notes; regionalisms; an Appendix of Indo-European Roots; and biographical and geographic entries.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Language, Dictionaries, Writing, Textbooks

1630 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

okay, here's how this "review" is going to go. this is the dictionary i used for my etymology class back in undergrad, so i have read this inasmuch as anyone "reads" a dictionary



so it's totally valid for my little project.

to celebrate dinovember, and to make kaethe happy, i am going to do my own series of daily themed tableaux. since i am starting this on the 12th, there will have to be some jumbly crowded bits at the end, but mooops. jumbly crowded bits of what you ask? well, every day i am going to post a picture of dinosaurs posed on or near things that begin with the letter of the day, because - relevant!

these are our stars:



they will not factor into the day's letter. they are just there to scream and be enthusiastic.

these will not be anywhere near as fun as dinovember, but hopefully at least 3 of the 26 will be amusing. next year, i will plan this better, but for now you get what you get.

A



B



i gotta step up this staging. this is amateur hour...

C



which i set up in the tub intentionally, hoping maggie would jump in and sit on that cat pillow, since she is fascinated by the bathtub lately, and then it would be an all-cat tableau.

this is as far as i got. she wasn't feeling picture-y





D



and of course, once i DON'T want her in the photo



E



F



G



H



I



J




K



L



M



N



O



P



Q



R



close-up detail for erica and evie



S



T



T is for thanksgiving!



U



V



W



X



Y



and, finally - Z

which is for "zoo." which is an a-z animal goodbye. thanks for all the fun, guys!! see you next year!!!

Z



close-up details, like we are the world is playing in the background...
















there are some outtakes and bonus material for this project. i may or may not add them at a later date. but for now - goodbye from all of us here in karenland!!!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm what you might call a connoisseur of dictionaries - I'm an avid reader and a writer, and I've used them all my life. This dictionary is THE BEST dictionary in existence. It contains something like 200,000 words, including proper nouns, such as the names of countries and famous people. It also contains "archaic" definitions, so if, for example, you're reading Dickens, and you want to know what he's talking about when he says "make love," you'd find that in the 1800s and early 1900s it meant simply to be affectionate - not sex! It also includes usage notes, and in a lot of definitions, it uses the word in a sentence or phrase, so you can see how it is used. The best part: this fabulous dictionary has the legend of pronunciation symbols on every page.

[Line · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally bought this simply because it's a big, pretty book. And whenever I see a book that falls into the bpb cathegory, I kinda space out until I'm standing outside the bookstore, bag in hand, completely ignoring the fact that I shouldn't be spending money while convincing myself it's an investment.
With that said, this is a very good dictionary. According to the front flap, 7500 new words were added for this edition (the fourth), making it very extensive and up-to-date (however, it's already a little behind the times as it does not include words like selfie.. I wonder if the fifth edition will though)

Things I like about this dictionary:
-It includes proper nouns.
-It includes many photos and illustrations.
-The indentations on the side makes it very easy to get straight to the letter you need.
-In the top left or right corner on every page is a little note telling you the word-range of that page. F.ex. the note on page 862 tells me it includes everything from mediastinum to Mediterranean fruit fly, whereas page 863 starts with Mediterranean Sea and ends with megagamete. This, again, lends efficiency.
-It includes things like the periodic table, and and overview of the indo-european family of languages.
-Due of the very thin pages, it's not too heavy.
-When you take the protection cover off, it is really pretty.

[Megan Cosby]

American heritage college dictionary. (2007). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Citation by: Megan Cosby

Type of Reference: Dictionary

Call Number: Ref 423

Content/Scope: As most students aspire to be college bound and many take college classes at the high school level, a dictionary that caters toward this demographic is key. This dictionary is geared toward college students, including college-level words and vocabulary.

Accuracy/Authority/Bias: American Heritage Dictionary is a reputable dictionary utilized by many academic institutions.

Arrangement/Presentation: Arrangement is alphabetical. Small black and white photos are located in the margins, and a small pronunciation key is located on each page.

Relation to other works: This dictionary provides clear, understandable, high level definitions for more advanced students.

Accessibility/Diversity: The clear definitions are attainable to many students. The dictionary is easy to navigate.

Cost: $18.87

[Andy]

0012

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been a great reference on our shelves for a lot of years.

[Nancy Raines]

Second College Edition