DCHP-1 Online

American ((n.)) † 

• 1 n. Obs. the aborigine of North America; an Indian or Eskimo.

  • 1578  They are of the couloure of a ripe Oliue, which how it may come to passes, being borne in so cold a climate, I referre to ye iudgement of others, for they are naturally borne children of the same couloure & complexiõ that all the Americans are, which dwell vnder the Equinoctiall line.
  • 1744  The French imagine they are descended from Biscayners, they having Beards up to their Eyes, which the Americans have not; they are of a white Complexion, not Copper coloured like the other Americans, having black, strong Hair.
  • 1784  The new-discovered Americans about Nootka Sound, at this time disguise themselves in dresses made of the skins of wolves and other wild beasts, and wear even the heads fitted to their own

• 2 n. Obs. an English-speaking native of the British North American colonies, as opposed to a French-speaking Canadian or a British immigrant.

  • c1800  (1955)  The man that had the care of this Mill was an American.
  • 1832  (1953)  The usual mode of cleaning the wheels of the adhesive mud being to strike them, when dry, on the rims, with a heavy hammer, which, causing the dirt to drop, restores them, in the eyes of an American, to a perfectly dandyish appearance

• 3 n. a native or citizen of the United States.

  • 1777  The Stamp-Act was repealed; and from that moment may be dated the commencement of what the Americans call "an Era of public ruin."
  • 1831  Americans can't be teachers of common Schools in some of the districts, and in several districts no book printed in the Union is allowed in the schools.
  • 1872  The term "American," as applied to themselves by the people of the United States, is, moreover, a usurpation against which all the other inhabitants of our Continent have a right to protest.