Introduction
Every specialized field of endeavor has its own peculiar vocabulary. Every region of the world, the same. Americans have taken words from the vocabularies of the world, altered, amended, corrupted, redefined, and some may say, completely distorted the author's original meaning or the creator's intended definition.

Foreword To The Third Edition
More than forty years ago I began collecting words which I did not understand or which I was not certian I understood fully. Many of these words came from my own research, correspondence and discussions about local history and genealogy. They were supplemented by words about which there were questions during my years of teaching genealogy for Parkland College, in my work in the Archives Room of the Urbana (Illinois) Free Library, and most recently during my volunteer days at the Champaign branch of the Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Finally, the users of the first edition, which was published seventeen years ago, have made many excellent suggestions for expansion and revision.

A  1) adultery (sometimes AD was used). In Massachusetts until 1785 those found guilty of adultery were required to wear a badge of the capital letter A cut from red cloth and sewed to their uppermost clothing; 2) a brand marked on animals belonging to the settlers of East Hampton, Long Island; 3) abstract; 4) acre or acres.