Pennsylvania

American  

[pen-suhl-veyn-yuh, -vey-nee-uh] / ˌpɛn səlˈveɪn yə, -ˈveɪ ni ə /

noun

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

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Pennsylvania British  

/ ˌpɛnsɪlˈveɪnɪə /

noun

1. Abbreviation: Pa.   Penn.   Penna.   PA.  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)

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Pennsylvania Cultural  

1. 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.

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Discover More

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.

One of the thirteen colonies.

Example Sentences

On a mission for his colony’s royal government in 1753-54, he traversed the Appalachians on an epic journey through what is now West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio to French-controlled territory in the upper Midwest.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

The Bucks County, Pennsylvania, grandmother, then 76, looked frail but resolute.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026

She celebrated her 97th birthday with a recital at Lebanon Valley College, Pennsylvania; and returned to Decca in 2022 to record what would become her final album.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

During a 2024 commencement address to his alma mater at the University of Pennsylvania engineering school, Ternus relayed a story about making the Cinema Display, the first Apple product he worked on a quarter-century ago.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

He then contacted Professor Rodney Young at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and asked him if the museum would undertake an excavation of the Gelidonya shipwreck.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler