use-icon

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

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

meth·od (mĕthəd)
Share:
n.
1. A means or manner of procedure, especially a regular and systematic way of accomplishing something: a simple method for making a pie crust; mediation as a method of solving disputes. See Usage Note at methodology.
2. Orderly arrangement of parts or steps to accomplish an end: random efforts that lack method.
3. The procedures and techniques characteristic of a particular discipline or field of knowledge: This field course gives an overview of archaeological method.
4. Method A technique of acting in which the actor recalls emotions and reactions from past experience and uses them in identifying with and individualizing the character being portrayed.

[Middle English, medical procedure, from Latin methodus, method, from Greek methodos, pursuit, method : meta-, beyond, after; see META- + hodos, way, journey.]

Synonyms: method, system, routine, manner, fashion, mode, way
These nouns refer to the plans or procedures followed to accomplish a task or attain a goal. Method implies a detailed, logically ordered plan: What method does your school use for teaching math? System suggests order, regularity, and coordination of methods: Our products have improved dramatically since we initiated a quality-control system. A routine is a habitual method: We got into the routine of getting up early and going for a walk. The word sometimes implies tedium or thoughtlessness: I fell into the routine of doing housework on Saturdays and lost touch with my biking friends. Manner and fashion emphasize personal or distinctive behavior: I can't stand the improvised manner with which you make meals. The old friends play chess in the most serious fashion. Mode often denotes a manner influenced by or arising from tradition or custom: They are a traditional people with a nomadic mode of life. Way is the least specific of these terms: Isn't there an easier way to lose weight?

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

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.