Oregon

American  

[awr-i-guhn, ‑-gon, or‑] / ˈɔr ɪ gən, ‑ˌgɒn, ˈɒr‑ /

noun

1. a state in the northwestern United States, on the Pacific coast. 96,981 square miles (251,180 square kilometers). Salem. OR (for use with zip code), Oreg., Ore.

2. a city in northwestern Ohio.

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Oregon British  

/ ˈɒrɪɡən /

noun

1. Abbreviation: Oreg..   OR.  a state of the northwestern US, on the Pacific: consists of the Coast and Cascade Ranges in the west and a plateau in the east; important timber production. Capital: Salem. Pop: 3 559 596 (2003 est). Area: 251 418 sq km (97 073 sq miles)

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Oregon Cultural  

1. State in the northwestern United States bordered by Washington to the north, Idaho to the east, Nevada and California to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Its capital is Salem, and its largest city is Portland.

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Discover More

Before the coming of the railroads, the Oregon Trail was used as an overland emigration route from the Missouri River to the Columbia River country (all of which was then called Oregon).

Other Word Forms

• Oregonian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Oregon

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

The Oregon law provides that a plaintiff “shall receive statutory damages in an amount of $6,250 per incident,” which could be each individual postcard sent to a union member.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

In the United States, golden statuary is rare and usually metaphoric — the Oregon Pioneer, the Golden Driller, the Spirit of Communication.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

"Maintaining a healthy diet in today's food environment requires constant effort and self-control," said lead author Charlotte Hagerman, PhD, of the Oregon Research Institute.

From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026

Now, Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica have obtained documents that reveal the role Dundon played in pushing some of the key company practices that regulators later presented as problematic.

From Salon • Mar. 30, 2026

Jule West Williams spent December 24 on a nineteen-hour bus ride and fell asleep early Christmas morning in a Portland, Oregon, airport hotel.

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart