American

noun, adjective

1 a person from America, especially the US seealsoAFRICANAMERICAN, NATIVEAMERICAN 2 (also American English) the English language as spoken in the US adjective of or connected with N or S America, especially the US: I'm American. * American culture / tourists IDIOMS as American as apple pie used to say that sth is typical of America ______________________________ MOREABOUT America The continent of America is divided into North America and South America. The narrow region joining North and South America is Central America. North America, which is a geographical term, consists of the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. Latin America, a cultural term, refers to the non-English speaking countries of Central and South America, where mainly Portuguese and Spanish are spoken. Mexico is part of Latin America. The United States of America is usually shortened to the USA, the US, the States or simply America: the US President * Have you ever been to the States? * She emigrated to America in 1995. Many people from other parts of the continent dislike this use of America to mean just the US, but it is very common. American is usually used to talk about somebody or something from the United States of America: Do you have an American passport? * American football * I'm not American, I'm Canadian. Latin American and South American are used to refer to other parts of the continent: Latin American dance music * Quite a lot of South Americans study here. ______________________________