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United States of America

United States of America

191 1.0
A country in North America made of 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii
  • proper noun
  • /juːˈnaɪtɪd steɪts əv əˈmɛrɪkə/
translation icon : Estados Unidos de América
  • I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
  • Government of the United States of America
  • President of the United States of America
  • United States of America and Canada

So Donald Trump, the president of the United States of America, tweeted on his Twitter.

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Examples

  • You are now citizens of the United States of America.

    Here Comes the Boom (2012)

  • Similar findings are in accordance with research in other countries, such as the United States of America.

    Academic text (2008)

  • We are going to be going all across this great country, the United States of America, and bringing you a show.

  • We are so far from the United States of America, which he was thinking of at this time.

  • Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the President of the United States of America...

    Fiction book (1997)

  • If you were born in the United States of America, you hit the lottery.

    Megyn Kelly

  • If you live in the United States of America, the responsibility is yours, ours.

  • And what you see here are three books that are widely used currently in the United States of America in most colleges and universities.

  • Your school system is a microcosm of the greater society of the United States of America.

    Academic text (1990)

  • You are now citizens of the United States of America.

Synonyms

America
vsUnited States of America
∞ 1.0

A country in North America made of fifty states including Alaska and Hawaii

is the longer official name rather than the casual country name
United States
vsUnited States of America
∞ 1.0

A country in North America made up of 50 states often called the US

is the full formal name rather than a shorter label
US
vsUnited States of America
∞ 1.0

A country in North America made of fifty states including Alaska and Hawaii

is the full name rather than an initialed or shortened form
USA
vsUnited States of America
564 1.0

A country in North America made of fifty states

is the full written name rather than this shortened abbreviation
the States
vsUnited States of America
  • Informal
77 5.8

A casual name for the United States used by people from other countries

is the formal full name rather than an outsider informal phrase
merica
vsUnited States of America
  • Slang
1 9.7

A joking name for the United States often used with flags and pickup trucks

is the standard formal name without humorous or stereotyped tone
U.S.A.
vsUnited States of America
1.0

A country in North America made of 50 states

is the full formal name rather than this punctuated abbreviation
U.S.
vsUnited States of America
1.0

A country in North America made of fifty states, including Alaska and Hawaii

is the full legal name rather than this punctuated short form

Surface Forms

United States of America main

Morphology

united + state + of + America

The phrase is a direct composition of its parts: 'united' (joined together) + 'states' (political entities) + 'of America' (specifying the geographical/political region), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer it denotes a country made of united states. This naming pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'Estados Unidos de América'), making the meaning readily derivable for B1 learners.

Etymology

United States of America: The name comes from the idea United 'joined together', States 'separate regions', and America is named after the explorer Amerigo Vespucci. So it simply means a group of joined regions in America, which is why it is the country's name.