A lmost a quarter of a century ago a new dictionary bearing the name American Heritage appeared. That book was notable because it did four things and it did them well. It faithfully recorded the language in easily understood definitions. It provided guidance toward accuracy, precision, and grace in the use of English that intelligent people need and seek in a dictionary. It traced, whenever possible, the development of English words to their origins and keyed many to an Appendix of Indo-European Roots. And it presented complex lexical data in a typographically attractive design accented by thousands of photographs and line drawings in spa- cious margins. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition, builds upon this distinguished, innovative foundation.
