West Virginian
3
3.9
- noun
- /ˌwɛst vərˈdʒɪn.jən/
- At the same time, the old county court system, which had been demonized for a century by West Virginians, emerged as a symbol of self-determination.
- West Virginians vote
- native West Virginian
- many West Virginians
Examples
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Now, history does confirm that a West Virginian woman named Anna Jarvis was the catalyst and the effort to organize Mother's Day as a holiday, but it was the Mary that planted the seeds for a nationally recognized holiday, Mother's Day.
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Number Two was a West Virginian named "Hill" Billy Macdonald, a friend of Uncle Talbie's from the barracks in Korea.
Fiction book (1999) -
We West Virginians are a proud folk.
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In March of 2016, West Virginia passed HB 4145, which permits West Virginians to carry concealed weapons anywhere without a permit.
Academic text (2017) -
The fair's goal is to help middle school students better understand their heritage and make them better able to answer the following questions in the context of their role as Greenbrier County residents, West Virginians, Americans, and human beings: Where have I been?
Academic text (2007) -
Editor's Note: Wendy Johnston is a sixth-generation West Virginian from Mercer County and the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of coal miners.
Blog text (28) -
Many West Virginians take pride in their state’s rich history and culture.
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A large group of West Virginians gathered to celebrate their annual festival this weekend.
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As a proud West Virginian, she often shares stories about her childhood in the Appalachian mountains.
Surface Forms
Morphology
West + Virginian
This is a straightforward compositional demonym: the phrase combines the place-name element 'West' with 'Virginian' to indicate origin from West Virginia, so the overall meaning is directly derivable from its parts. The pattern place-name + demonym suffix is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents (or knows 'Virginia' and recognizes the demonym form) will understand it.
Etymology
West Virginian comes from the place name West Virginia plus the ending -an that turns a place into a person, so it means 'someone from West Virginia'.