Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Nearby Words

ameslan

 - 6 dictionary results

Am⋅e⋅slan

  [am-uh-slan, am-slan]
Use ameslan in a Sentence
–noun
American Sign Language.
Origin:
1970–75, Americanism

American Sign Language

 
–noun
a visual-gesture language, having its own semantic and syntactic structure, used by deaf people in the U.S. and English-speaking parts of Canada. Abbreviation: ASL
Also called Ameslan.

Origin:
1960–65
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ameslan
American Sign Language  
n.   Abbr. ASL
The primary sign language used by deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada, devised in part by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet on the basis of sign language in France. Also called Ameslan.
Am·es·lan   (ām'ĭ-slān')   
n.  See American Sign Language.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

Ameslan 
1972, acronym of Ame(rican) S(ign) Lan(guage), known by that name since 1960, but its history goes back to 1817, evolving from French Sign Language (introduced at American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Conn.) and indigenous sign languages, especially that of Martha's Vineyard. [See "Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language," Nora Ellen Groce, Harvard University Press, 1985]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Abbreviations & Acronyms
Ameslan
American Sign Language
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see ameslan on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way