American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

Rating:
Summary: The Best "College" Dictionary!
Review: A riddle: what book weighs 8.5 lbs., is read almost every day, but is never finished? Easy answer: "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language," third edition (1996, 1992) ["AHD"].

As a teacher of first-year college English courses, I recommend this dictionary to my students. It has large print; lists some synonyms; has word history and usage notes; offers illustrations; shows proper hyphenation, syllabification, and pronunciation of words.

For the rare instance that a word is not found in the "AHD," I suggest that students consult the library's copy of the "Oxford English Dictionary," second edition ["OED"]. For classroom use, I recommend the "Oxford American Dictionary" (1980), an inexpensive paperback, which has some excellent, brief usage notes.

This dictionary makes an excellent high school graduation present for the college-bound student. It is also a good reference book for the home or office library.

Rating:
Summary: The Best "College" Dictionary!
Review: A riddle: what book weighs 8.5 lbs., is read almost every day, but is never finished? Easy answer: "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language," third edition (1996, 1992) ["AHD"].

As a teacher of first-year college English courses, I recommend this dictionary to my students. It has large print; lists some synonyms; has word history and usage notes; offers illustrations; shows proper hyphenation, syllabification, and pronunciation of words.

For the rare instance that a word is not found in the "AHD," I suggest that students consult the library's copy of the "Oxford English Dictionary," second edition ["OED"]. For classroom use, I recommend the "Oxford American Dictionary" (1980), an inexpensive paperback, which has some excellent, brief usage notes.

This dictionary makes an excellent high school graduation present for the college-bound student. It is also a good reference book for the home or office library.

Rating:
Summary: My hat is off to the AHD's wisdom.
Review: I bought its first edition in 1969. I am glad I did. I did not buy its second edition(1982), since the nice Appendix-Indo-European Roots-had been deleted. I bought the third edition (1992) and was excited to see the totally revised Appendix reappeared. The author of the Appendix, Calvert Watkins, states "This Dictionary carries the etimology of the English language to its logical and natural conclusion, for if the documentary history of words is of interest and value, so is their reconstructed history..." The AHD and OED(Oxford English Dictionary) complement each other, the former doing the reconstructed history in its Appendix and the latter the documentary history in 12 volumes plus 3 supplements(now available as CD-ROM hyperdictionary). Just take a look at the entry 'gena" (p.2103) and "mregh-u-"(p.2115) in the AHD and see how seemingly unrelated words are in reality derivatives- namely, the descendants from a common IE root. The chances are that you will be astonished to finda hidden common thread going through a common set of derivatives! This often helps you understand the delicate differences in meaning among the so-called synonyms, too. The only regrettable thing is that not all English words can be traced back to their respective IE root. In fact some 75-80 percent of them are. As a native of Japan learning English as a second language, and a professor of computer science, the AHD is almost my trade secret of help for building a kind of English vocarbulary that no colleagues or friends of mine are building. My hat is off to the wisdom and knowledge of the editors of the AHD and Calvert Watkins who saw that such an apparently esoteric Appendix should be an integral part of a respectable English dictionary for the ordinary people and that they shoud present them in such a form that may be understood by the ordinary people. Thus, this Appendix alone makes the AHD worth occupying a valuable part of my revolving bookstand on my desk. I have been silent on the other features of the AHD. To be brief I simply state that I find it use-friendly and helpful and accurate. By the way, I also find the Webster's New World College Dictionary, Third editin, goes well with the AHD. It also gives the IE roo in the INDIVIDUAL entries, but does not give a cross reference that the AHD's Appendix does. Without cross-reference, one would never be able to realize the significance of the information given by the IE roots and their derivatives. With AHD,WNWCD and, oh yes, OED in CD-ROM around me, I feel that I am well equipped for the study of English words than anyone else around and beyond! My recentTOEIC score 950, or 99.6 percentile.

Rating:
Summary: A Heritage Far Earlier Than American
Review: In a land of great dictionaries, this one stands out as being the one that most expresses what it really means to be American. This is the people's dictionary. Two of its features are its accessibility and its comprehensiveness. You can use this dictionary absolutely for free on the Internet; however, for convenience you might want the hard copy. A 1 3/4 margin on every page is reserved for the numerous miniature pictures illustrating the entries. The text is designed for readability. However, you must not think scholarship is in deficit. Oh no. It was great day for us when Harvard University's Calvert Watkins agreed to do the appendix on Indo-european roots, which keys us in to a language tradition thousands of years old. Nothing else like it is readily available. If you look at the panel of other experts, you will readily see that this dictionary truly is the language reference of our united people. No loving care for our intellectual well-being is stinted by minds that came from many heritages.

Rating:
Summary: 4th edition has color, and up to date words
Review: The American Heritage is the best distionary for Americans. It has clear and concise definitions plus fantastic etymologies. There are two other dictionaries that I use: The OED and Webster's 2nd International Unabridged (old), but the AHD is first, always!

Rating:
Summary: Top of the line dictionary
Review: The dictionary is well published with easy access. The definitions are concise explainations. I recommend this dictionary to anyone who is interested in obtaining a great dictionary that could be rated with that of a Cadillac of dictionaries. I am proud to have it on my book shelf!

Rating:
Summary: Wait for the new 4th edition of "AHD"
Review: Unless one has an urgent need for "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language," third edition, hardcover [ISBN: 0395448956 or ISBN: 0395711460], please wait until September 14, 2000, when the same dictionary will come out in a fourth edition [ISBN: 0395825172]. Of course, when I wrote the previous "AHD" review a few days ago, I did not know a new edition was being issued so soon.

Another note: please do not confuse "The American Dictionary of the English Language" with the "College" version of the same dictionary, which is not as good. If one wants a great dictionary on CD-Rom, then I recommend the "OED," second edition. I have the Mac version, (and I love it), but I have to keep it as my "resident" CD-Rom for it to work. Unless one is a matriculated English major, I do not imagine that one would need a CD-Rom version.

Rating:
Summary: The best Dictionary available
Review: Without a doubt this is a far superior dictionary than the Merrium-Webster's dictionary. This dictionary is designed the way a dictionary should be. Definitions are listed not how they evolved historically, but how they are used with the most common usage of a word coming before less common uses.

Also, the English usage notes in the dictionary are more reflective of the way English is used in the United States than the MW dictionary.

Rating:
Summary: A hefty college dictionary
Review: You won't find much in here that you can't find in one of the better desk dictionaries, such as Merriam-Webster's or Webster's New World. While presenting an attractive and respectable view of the language, this over-sized tome is heavy, bulky, and expensive. This awkward book collects dust on my shelf while I continue to use the more convenient, more scholarly, and more comprehensive Merriam-Webster's Collegiate.

While I would recommend this book over the American Heritage College Dictionary, for its fuller definitions, and more numerous usage notes and synonym studies, I am not excited by it. The pictures are nice, but too often I've found that they convey little extra information. The printing is attractive, but the paper stock is thin, lacks body, and must be handled delicately to avoid damage. And for all its bulk, this book has many fewer words of text than the much more compact Merriam-Webster Collegiate.

In short, what the publishers have produced here is a book that has initial visual appeal, but upon use, is found to be wanting. Try lugging this one along in your briefcase on your next assignment and you'll know what I'm talking about. And thumbing your way thru this book is a tedious and fussy business. The pages tend to droop when turned, thus leading to creased and crumpled pages. Despite its pleasing appearance, this is not a book that invites frequent use.