American (word)

The word American is used to mean a person or a thing from the United States or any country in the Americas - North America, Central America, and South America. In English, the most common use of this word is to mean a person or a thing from the United States.

Even though the islands in the Caribbean Sea are close to the Americas, people who speak English do not usually use the word "American" for people or things from these islands.

Because the word 'American' can be unclear, some languages don’t use it to talk about people or things from the United States. Instead, they use more specific words, like estadounidense in Spanish, usonano in Esperanto, yhdysvaltalainen in Finnish, and US-Amerikaner in German. In English, people sometimes use the word 'Yankee', though this usually means someone from New England. The word Usonian (from Usonia) was suggested by architect Frank Lloyd Wright as another way to say 'American'.

A Native American is someone who is mostly descended from the people who lived in the Americas before the Europeans arrived. Native Americans are also called First Nations and Indians.

There is no language "American." Some important languages used in the Americas are English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Some people still use Native American languages. Quechua is the largest.