Americas

=== English ===
{{Main|American (word)|l1=''American'' (word)}}

[[English language|Speakers of English]] generally refer to the [[landmass]]es of North America and South America as ''the Americas'', the ''[[Western Hemisphere]]'', or the ''[[New World]]''.<ref name="Burchfield">Burchfield, R. W. 2004. ''[[Fowler's Modern English Usage]].'' ({{ISBN|0-19-861021-1}}) Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; p. 48.</ref> The adjective ''American'' may be used to indicate something pertaining to the Americas,<ref name="OEDAMERICAN">{{OED|American}}</ref> but this term is primarily used in English to indicate something pertaining to the United States.<ref name="OEDAMERICAN" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=american|title=American|work=The American Heritage Dictionary|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|access-date=September 8, 2014}}</ref><ref name="oxfcdn" /> Some non-ambiguous alternatives exist, such as the adjective ''Pan-American'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Pan-American|title=Definition of PAN-AMERICAN|website=Merriam-Webster}}</ref> or ''New Worlder'' as a demonym for a resident of the closely related [[New World]].<ref name="OED|New Worlder" /> Use of ''America'' in the hemispherical sense is sometimes retained, or can occur when translated from other languages.<ref>''Reader's Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder''. 1993. ({{ISBN|0-276-42101-9}}) New York, US: [[Reader's Digest]] Association; p. 45.</ref> For example, the [[Association of National Olympic Committees]] (ANOC) in Paris maintains a single continental association for "America", represented by one of the five [[Olympic rings]].<ref>[http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_1303.pdf ''The Olympic symbols.''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731072159/http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_1303.pdf |date=July 31, 2010 }} [[International Olympic Committee]]. 2002. Lausanne: Olympic Museum and Studies Centre. The five rings of the [[Olympic symbols#Olympic emblems|Olympic flag]] represent the five inhabited, participating continents: ([http://www.en.acnolympic.org/art.php?id=20008 Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731072159/http://www.en.acnolympic.org/art.php?id=20008 |date=July 31, 2010 }}).{{cite web|url=http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_1303.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=February 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822175428/http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_1303.pdf |archive-date=August 22, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>

American essayist [[H.L. Mencken]] said, "The Latin-Americans use Norteamericano in formal writing, but, save in Panama, prefer nicknames in colloquial speech."<ref name="Mencken">{{cite journal|last=Mencken|first=H. L.|date=December 1947|title=Names for Americans|journal=American Speech|volume=22|issue=4|pages=241–256|doi=10.2307/486658|jstor=486658}} quote at p 243.</ref> To avoid "American" one can use constructed terms in their languages derived from "United States" or even "North America".<ref name="oxfcdn">"America." ''Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage.'' ({{ISBN|0-19-541619-8}}) Fee, Margery and McAlpine, J., ed., 1997. Toronto: Oxford University Press; p. 36.</ref><ref>"American." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' ({{ISBN|0-19-214183-X}}); McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 35.</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Estados Unidos | work = Diccionario panhispánico de dudas | publisher = [[Real Academia Española]] |language= es | date = October 2005 | url = http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltGUIBusDPD?lema=Estados%20Unidos |access-date=November 30, 2010}}</ref> In Canada, its southern neighbor is often referred to as "the United States", "the U.S.A.", or (informally) "the States", while U.S. citizens are generally referred to as "Americans".<ref name="oxfcdn" /> Most Canadians resent being referred to as "Americans".<ref name="oxfcdn" />