American Heritage Dictionary Entry: enter HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com enter- Share: Tweet pref. Variant of entero-. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. en·ter (ĕntər) Share: Tweet v. en·tered, en·ter·ing, en·ters v.tr. 1. To come or go into: The train entered the tunnel. 2. To penetrate; pierce: The bullet entered the victim's skull. 3. To introduce; insert: She entered the probe into the patient's artery. 4. a. To become a participant, member, or part of; join: too old to enter the army; entered the discussion at a crucial moment. b. To gain admission to (a school, for example). 5. To cause to become a participant, member, or part of; enroll: entered the children in private school; entered dahlias in a flower show. 6. To embark on; begin: With Sputnik, the Soviet Union entered the space age. 7. To make a beginning in; take up: entered medicine. 8. To write or put in: entered our names in the guest book; enters the data into the computer. 9. To place formally on record; submit: enter a plea of not guilty; enter a complaint. 10. To go to or occupy in order to claim possession of (land). 11. To report (a ship or cargo) to customs. v.intr. 1. To come or go in; make an entry: As the president entered, the band played "Hail to the Chief." 2. To effect penetration. 3. To become a member or participant. n. A key on a keyboard or keypad used to enter or confirm a command or other textual input.Phrasal Verbs: enter into 1. To participate in; take an active role or interest in: enter into politics; enter into negotiations. 2. To become party to (a contract): The nations entered into a trade agreement. 3. To become a component of; form a part of: Financial matters entered into the discussion. 4. To consider; investigate: The report entered into the effect of high interest rates on the market. enter on (or upon) 1. To set out on; begin: We enter on a new era in our history. 2. To begin considering; take up: After discussing the budget deficit, they entered on the problem of raising taxes. 3. To take possession of: She entered upon the estate of her uncle. [Middle English entren, from Old French entrer, from Latin intrāre, from intrā, inside; see en in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] enter·a·ble adj. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 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