America

See also: América, Amèrica, and americà

English

Alternative forms

(the United States of America): Merica/ 'Murica/ 'murica (nonstandard, often jocular or representing dialect)
(North and South America): Americas

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *amalaz

Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs

Proto-Celtic *rīxsbor.

Proto-Germanic *rīks

Proto-Germanic *Amalarīksder.

Proto-Indo-European *ḱey-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos

Proto-Indo-European *tḱóymos

Proto-Germanic *haimaz

Proto-Germanic *rīks

Proto-Germanic *Haimarīksder.?

Italian Amerigoder.

New Latin Americalbor.

English America

Learned borrowing from New Latin America, feminine Latinized form of the Italian first name of Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512). Amerigo is an Italian name derived from a Germanic language and is etymologically related to Henry and Emmerich. The earliest known use of America for the (South) American continent is on a 1507 map by Martin Waldseemüller;^[1]^[2] see Naming of the Americas for more.

Although this is the most widely accepted derivation, it has also been suggested that it could originate from the name of the Amerrisque mountains in Nicaragua (from Mayan), and another disputed theory is that it derives from the surname of Richard Amerike (1440–1503), whose surname is an anglicised form of Welsh ap Meurig (“son of Meurig”), from Old Welsh Mouric, which could be a rendition of Latin Mauritius (compare Maurice).^[3]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kə/
(weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /əˈmɛɹ.ə.kə/, /əˈmɛɹ.kə/
- Rhymes: -ɛɹɪkə
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Audio (US): (file)
(nonstandard) IPA^(key): /əˈmɚ.ɪ.kə/, /əˈmɚ.ə.kə/
(obsolete) IPA^(key): /əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.keɪ/, /əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kɔː/^[4]

Proper noun

America (plural Americas)

The Americas.
- 1847, Joseph Dalton Hooker, On the Vegetation of the Galapagos Archipelago, as compared with that of some other Tropical Islands and of the Continent of America, →DOI, pages 235–262:
  The results of my examination ... for the most part allied to plants of the cooler part of America, or the uplands of the tropical latitudes ...
- 1890, Encyclopaedia Britannica, page 796:
  the Marsupials or pouched animals, being found throughout the continent of America, from the United States to Patagonia
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 691:
  Franciscan attitudes in the Canaries offered possible precedents for what Europe now came to call ‘the New World’, or, through a somewhat tangled chain of circumstances, ‘America’.
A female given name.
A town in Limburg, Netherlands.
The United States of America.
- 1837, George Sand, translated by Stanley Young, Mauprat‎^[6], Cassandra Editions, published 1977, →ISBN, page 237:
  For a long time the dormouse and polecat had seemed to him overfeeble enemies for his restless valour, even as the granary floor seemed to afford too narrow a field. Every day he read the papers of the previous day in the servants' hall of the houses he visited, and it appeared to him that this war in America, which was hailed as the awakening of the spirit of liberty and justice in the New World, ought to produce a revolution in France.
- 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist‎^[7], volume 407, page 74:
  In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.
- 2014 July 27, “Nuclear Weapons”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 12, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
  And once gain, America is saved from destruction by the heroes in “MEAL Team Six”.
- 2022 April 3, Roisin Conaty & al., Big Fat Quiz of Everything, Channel 4:
  Captain America, how did he get his powers?
  I think he... he got bitten by America.

Usage notes

In English, the unqualified term "America" often refers to the United States of America as a synecdoche, with "American" typically referring to people and things from that country. The sense of "the Americas" varies in commonness between regions in contemporary English, but is found in certain circumstances, such as in reference to the Organization of American States.

Synonyms

(North and South America) Americas
(United States of America) see United States of America#Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Chinese: 亞美利加／亚美利加
→ Japanese: アメリカ
→ Malay: Amerika
→ Tokelauan: Amelika

Translations

United States of America — see United States of America

Americas — see Americas

References

^ Merriam-Webster Online, Mapping Out the Naming of 'America'
^ “Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii alioru[m]que lustrationes.”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], 2014 September 8 (last accessed), archived from the original on January 9, 2009; Martin Waldseemüller (2014 April 18 (last accessed)) “Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii alioru[m]que lustrationes”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[2], Washington, DC: Library of Congress, →LCCN
^ The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. (2016). United Kingdom: OUP Oxford, p. 1881
^ Krapp, George Philip (1925) The English Language in America‎^[3], volume II, New York: Century Co. for the Modern Language Association of America, →OCLC, page 49.

Dutch

Etymology

First attested as Amerika in 1838-1857. Derived from New Latin America. The settlement was named for its remote location.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɑˈmeː.ri.kaː/
Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: Ame‧ri‧ca
Homophone: Amerika

Proper noun

America n

A village in Horst aan de Maas, Limburg, Netherlands
Synonym: Turftreiersriek (Carnival nickname)

References

van Berkel, Gerard, Samplonius, Kees (2018) Nederlandse plaatsnamen verklaard (in Dutch), Mijnbestseller.nl, →ISBN

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:

America

Wikipedia ^it

Etymology

From New Latin America.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /aˈmɛ.ri.ka/
Rhymes: -ɛrika
Hyphenation: A‧mè‧ri‧ca

Proper noun

America f

(continent) the Americas

Derived terms

Descendants

→⇒ Slavomolisano: Lamerika

Anagrams

amicare, camerai, macaire, macerai, rameica

Latin

Etymology

Feminine form of Americus, the Latinized form of the forename of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512). Amerigo is the Italian form of a Germanic personal name (see Emmerich).

First recorded in 1507 (together with the related term Amerigen) in the Cosmographiae Introductio, apparently written by Matthias Ringmann, in reference to South America;^[1] first applied to both North and South America by Mercator in 1538. Amerigen means "land of Amerigo" and derives from Amerigo and gen, the accusative case of Greek gē "earth". America accorded with the feminine names of Asia, Africa, and Europa.^[2]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /a.meˈriː.ka/, [ämɛˈriːkä] or IPA^(key): /aˈme.ri.ka/, [äˈmɛrɪkä]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a.meˈri.ka/, [ämeˈriːkä] or IPA^(key): /aˈme.ri.ka/, [äˈmɛːrikä]
Note: the length of the /i/ can be long, and that form is well-attested in Latin literature; for example, Rafael Landívar's Rusticatio Mexicana. This form is mostly attested in poetry, and it corresponds more closely to the Italian pronunciation of Amerigo.^[3]

Proper noun

Amerī̆ca f sg (genitive Amerī̆cae); first declension

(New Latin) America (the continent).

Declension

First-declension noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Amerī̆ca
genitive	Amerī̆cae
dative	Amerī̆cae
accusative	Amerī̆cam
ablative	Amerī̆cā
vocative	Amerī̆ca

References

America in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[8], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

^ John R. Hebert, "The Map That Named America: Library Acquires 1507 Waldseemüller Map of the World" ([4]), Information Bulletin, Library of Congress
^ Toby Lester, "Putting America on the Map", Smithsonian, 40:9 (December 2009)
^ Gil, J. (2010). "America. Myrtia, 25, 187–194." ([5])

Occitan

Etymology

From New Latin America.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ameˈɾiko̞/

Proper noun

America f

America (the Americas)

Derived terms

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin America.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [aˈme.ri.ka]

Proper noun

America f (plural Americi)

America, the Americas (two continents, North America and South America)
America, the United States of America (a country in North America)

Declension

	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
	singular		plural
nominative-accusative	Americă	America	Americi	Americile
genitive-dative	Americi	Americii	Americi	Americilor
vocative	America, Americă		Americilor

Derived terms

Related terms

Welsh

Etymology

From New Latin America.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /aˈmɛrɪka/

Proper noun

America f

America

Derived terms

America Ladin (“Latin America”)
Americanaidd (“American”)
Americanes (“American woman”)
Americanwr (“American man”)
Canolbarth America (“Central America”)
De America (“South America”)
Gogledd America (“North America”)
Unol Daleithiau America (“United States of America”)
llus America (“blueberries”)
robin America (“American robin”)

Related terms

yr Amerig (“the Americas”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of *America*
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
America	unchanged	unchanged	Hamerica

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

[MWety-1] Merriam-Webster Online, Mapping Out the Naming of 'America'

[2] “Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii alioru[m]que lustrationes.”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], 2014 September 8 (last accessed), archived from the original on January 9, 2009; Martin Waldseemüller (2014 April 18 (last accessed)) “Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii alioru[m]que lustrationes”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[2], Washington, DC: Library of Congress, →LCCN

[3] The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. (2016). United Kingdom: OUP Oxford, p. 1881

[4] Krapp, George Philip (1925) The English Language in America‎^[3], volume II, New York: Century Co. for the Modern Language Association of America, →OCLC, page 49.

[5] John R. Hebert, "The Map That Named America: Library Acquires 1507 Waldseemüller Map of the World" ([4]), Information Bulletin, Library of Congress

[Smiths-6] Toby Lester, "Putting America on the Map", Smithsonian, 40:9 (December 2009)

[7] Gil, J. (2010). "America. Myrtia, 25, 187–194." ([5])

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Usage notes

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

References

Further reading

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Proper noun

References

Italian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Declension

References

Occitan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Derived terms

Romanian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Welsh

Etymology

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Derived terms

Related terms

Mutation

See also

References