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: 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 number one choice in dictionaries.
Review: As a teacher of English, I have several dictionaries available both for classroom and personal use. This dictionary is definitely the best. I use it as a mini-encyclopedia when asked questions about people and locations, and even historical eras. I pick it up several times a week. I am buying this copy for my college daughter who misses "mom's great dictionary."
Rating:
Summary: The zenith of dictionaries
Review: I agree with Mr. Storch. I picked it up this morning after reading his review and have already finished. It was a mesmerizing page-turner. If you're gripped by lexography like I am, you won't be able to put this one down!
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: 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: Excellent dictionary
Review: I finally bought my own copy of the American Heritage Dictionary after borrowing my brother's for months. This is a superior dictionary with clear definitions and it is very up to date. I looked at several other dictionaries and this one is the best.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book but dated
Review: I love the look of this book and American Heritage did a great job but I made the mistake of buying this without realizing it was first published over 7 years ago. I know that my life has changed a lot in 7 years and so has the language. This book does not contain a lot of the computer, medical and technical words and phrases that have come into existence since 1992.
Rating:
Summary: The most complete abridged dictionary on the market. Great!
Review: I noticed a 2 star rating that compared this to a 4th grade dictionary. If you're looking for an unabridged dictionary, go get one. This one is abridged(less than 265,000 words). American Heritage is in most libraries because it's the most comprehensive abridged dictionary on the market and has by far the best laid out pages. It has lots of illustrations and is easier on the eye than most dictionaries. It also works hard at avoiding bias, which not all reference sources do. a library student, Houston.
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