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.
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.
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP
The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.
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.
INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?
Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com
n. pl. in·di·gos or in·di·goes 1. a. Any of various shrubs or herbs of the genus Indigofera in the pea family, having pinnately compound leaves and usually red or purple flowers in axillary racemes. b. A dark blue crystalline compound, C16H10N2O2, that is obtained from these plants or produced synthetically and is widely used as a textile dye. Also called indigotin. 2. Any of several related plants, especially those of the genera Amorpha and Baptisia. 3. The hue of that portion of the visible spectrum lying between blue and violet, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 420 to 450 nanometers; a dark blue to grayish purple blue. [Spanish índigo and Dutch indigo (from Portuguese endego), both from Latin indicum, from Greek Indikon (pharmakon), Indian (dye), neuter of Indikos, of India, from India, India, from Indos, the Indus River, from Old Persian Hinduš, Sind; see HINDI.] indi·go′ adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
