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Glite Dictionary
Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

666 1.0
A state in the northeastern United States that is one of the first thirteen colonies
  • proper noun
  • /ˌpɛnslˈveɪniə/
translation icon : Pensilvania
  • When my parents split up, I went to stay with my grandmother for the summer in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

So she sent me to live in Pennsylvania for four years.

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Examples

  • And they came back home to a small town in Pennsylvania called Milton, PA.

  • Last year, work began on a new park designed to reconnect Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania residents with the Allegheny River.

    Academic text (1999)

  • So she sent me to live in Pennsylvania for four years.

    The 85 South Comedy Show

  • I am home right now in Pennsylvania for Christmas.

  • But what was I going to do in Green Castle, Pennsylvania, after your father died?

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Now, Jordan, you have been on the ground in Pennsylvania for almost a year.

  • My father considered my time in Pennsylvania private schools a sign of his good fortune.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • So now we're on our way to Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

  • I often spend summers in Pennsylvania and they're talking about it all the time.

  • She moved to Pennsylvania to start a new job last year.

Synonyms

PA
vsPennsylvania
  • US
168 2.2

A state in the northeastern United States

is the full state name rather than the uppercase two-letter code
Keystone State
vsPennsylvania
1 4.6

A nickname for Pennsylvania because it played an important role in early United States history

is the official geographic name rather than an informal celebratory title
Pa.
vsPennsylvania
2.7

A state in the northeastern United States

is the full state name rather than a punctuated short form

Compounds

University of Pennsylvania
26 2.5

A well-known private university in Philadelphia, United States

Pennsylvania Dutch
  • US
1 9.6

A form of German spoken in parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland, often by Amish families

Surface Forms

Pennsylvania main

Morphology

Pennsylvania = Penn (opaque) = Penn + sylvania

Formed from the surname 'Penn' plus a Latin-derived combining element '-sylvania' that is not a productive standalone English morpheme, so learners cannot reliably infer its meaning from familiar English morphemes.

Etymology

Pennsylvania combines the name Penn, after William Penn, and sylvania, from Latin silva meaning 'woods' or 'forest'. So Pennsylvania means 'Penn's woods', which helps you remember the state's name.