Harrisburg

[ har-is-burg ]

/ ˈhær ɪsˌbɜrg /

noun

a city in and the capital of Pennsylvania, in the S part, on the Susquehanna River.

Definition for harrisburg (2 of 2)

Pennsylvania

[ pen-suh l-veyn-yuh, -vey-nee-uh ]

/ ˌpɛn səlˈveɪn yə, -ˈveɪ ni ə /

noun

a state in the E United States. 45,333 sq. mi. (117,410 sq. km). Capital: Harrisburg. Abbreviation: PA (for use with zip code), Pa., Penn., Penna.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for harrisburg

Stephens left New York City when he was 20 to begin college in Harrisburg, but he traveled often to the city for work.
Elmo Accuser Sheldon Stephens Opens Up|Maria Elena Fernandez|December 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Stephens left New York City when he was 20 to begin college in Harrisburg, but he travelled often to the city for work.
‘I Always Felt It Was Creepy’: Stories of Sex With Elmo Puppeteer Kevin Clash|Maria Elena Fernandez|December 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Sara Ganim was standing in her pink socks in the office of the Harrisburg, Pa., Patriot-News when she heard the news Monday.
Reporter Sara Ganim, Who Won a Pulitzer for Breaking Sandusky Story|Matthew DeLuca|April 18, 2012|DAILY BEAST
“This may be the most high-profile sexual abuse case ever,” says Andreozzi, of Harrisburg.
Penn State Facing More Civil Suits|Jessica Bennett, Jacob Bernstein|November 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST

Things are completely different now … I spend three days a week in Harrisburg lobbying representatives from all over the state.
Occupy Wall Street: The New York Post's Bogus Coverage|Emily Atkin, Matthew DeLuca|November 10, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Our army, under the command of General Houston, was in front of Harrisburg, to which place the congress had retreated.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
The Advocate he refers to was the church paper, published at Harrisburg, of which he was a correspondent.
Birth of a Reformation|Andrew Byers
The matter was on his mind until he arrived at Harrisburg, where he determined that three hundred would be about right.
The Unpublishable Memoirs|A. S. W. Rosenbach
The papers of Mr. Elder were submitted to the writers examination by his son, an aged and esteemed citizen of Harrisburg.
The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada|Francis Parkman
From Philadelphia his journey took him to Harrisburg, where he visited both branches of the Legislature then in session.
Abraham Lincoln, Volume 2 (of 2)|William H. Herndon

British Dictionary definitions for harrisburg (1 of 2)

Harrisburg

/ (ˈhærɪsˌbɜːɡ) /

noun

a city in S Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River: the state capital. Pop: 48 322 (2003 est)

British Dictionary definitions for harrisburg (2 of 2)

Pennsylvania

/ (ˌpɛnsɪlˈveɪnɪə) /

noun

a state of the northeastern US: almost wholly in the Appalachians, with the Allegheny Plateau to the west and a plain in the southeast; the second most important US state for manufacturing. Capital: Harrisburg. Pop: 12 365 455 (2003 est). Area: 116 462 sq km (44 956 sq miles)Abbreviation: Pa, Penn, Penna, (with zip code) PA

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for harrisburg

Pennsylvania

American colony, later U.S. state, 1681, literally "Penn's Woods," a hybrid formed from the surname Penn (Welsh, literally "head") + Latin sylvania (see sylvan). Not named for William Penn, the proprietor, but, on suggestion of Charles II, for Penn's late father, Admiral William Penn (1621-1670), who had lent the king the money that was repaid to the son in the form of land for a Quaker settlement in America. The story goes that the younger Penn wanted to call it New Wales, but the king's secretary, a Welshman of orthodox religion, wouldn't hear of it. Pennsylvania Dutch is attested from 1824.

Culture definitions for harrisburg

Pennsylvania

State in the northeastern United States bordered by Lake Erie and New York to the north; New Jersey to the east; Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia to the south; and Ohio to the west. Its capital is Harrisburg, and its largest city is Philadelphia.

Note

One of the thirteen colonies.

Note

Named after the father of William Penn, a devout Quaker, who was granted proprietary rights by the king of England to almost the whole of what is now Pennsylvania in the late seventeenth century.