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

bi·as (bīəs)
Share:
n.
1. A line going diagonally across the grain of fabric: Cut the cloth on the bias.
2.
a. A preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment.
b. An unfair act or policy stemming from prejudice.
3. A statistical sampling or testing error caused by systematically favoring some outcomes over others.
4. Sports
a. A weight or irregularity in a ball that causes it to swerve, as in lawn bowling.
b. The tendency of such a ball to swerve.
5. The fixed voltage applied to an electrode.
adj.
Slanting or diagonal; oblique: a bias fold.
tr.v. bi·ased, bi·as·ing, bi·as·es or bi·assed or bi·as·sing or bi·as·ses
1. To influence in a particular, typically unfair direction.
2. To apply a small voltage to (a grid).

[French biais, slant, from Provençal, perhaps ultimately from Greek epikarsios, slanted; see sker-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: bias, jaundice, prejudice
These verbs mean to influence in a particular, often unfavorable way. To bias is to cause to incline toward or away from something or someone: claimed that the ruling was biased against low-income workers; was biased by experience in favor of stronger regulation.
To jaundice is to predispose toward negativity or skepticism: Years of scandal have jaundiced her view of politics.
To prejudice is to cause to judge prematurely, without full knowledge or due consideration; it often, but not always, suggests bigotry: were prejudiced by their narrow upbringing against those of a different race; moved the trial so as to find jurors who had not been prejudiced by news coverage of the case.

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.