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The Historical Thesaurus of English (HTE) is the largest thesaurus in the world. It is called a historical thesaurus as it arranges the whole vocabulary of English, from the earliest written records in Old English to the present, according to the first documented occurrence of a word in the entire history of the English language.
Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world. [102] Both standard and non-standard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the Anglosphere as "the countries of the world in which the English language and cultural values predominate". [7] [b] However the Anglosphere is usually not considered to include all countries where English is an official language, so it is not synonymous with anglophone. [8] [better source needed]
Authors who take a pluralist approach nevertheless consider English to inhabit a unique position as the foremost world language; for instance, in Abram de Swaan's global language system, English is the sole occupant of the highest position in the hierarchy: the hypercentral language. [7]
The English noun "german" (as in "cousin-german") and the adjective "germane" are not connected to the name for the country, but come from the Latin germanus, "siblings with the same parents or father", which has cognates in Catalan, germà, and Spanish, hermano, meaning "brother".
Americanisms are increasingly common in British English, and many that were not widely used some decades ago, are now so (e.g., regular in the sense of "regular coffee"). American spelling is consistently used throughout this article, except when explicitly referencing British terms.
Sea serpent, a water dragon found in mythology and legends throughout the world. The unnamed five-headed dragon subdued by the Buddhist goddess Benzaiten at Enoshima in Japan in A.D. 552; The unnamed dragon defeated by Saint George. Cockatrice, a two-legged dragon or serpent-like creature with a rooster's head.
Regional vocabulary within American English varies. Below is a list of lexical differences in vocabulary that are generally associated with a region. A term featured on a list may or may not be found throughout the region concerned, and may or may not be recognized by speakers outside that region. Some terms appear on more than one list.