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

Tronieri reports receiving an investigator-initiated grant, on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania, from Novo Nordisk and receiving consulting fees from Currax Pharmaceuticals, LLC.

From Science Daily • May 24, 2026

They have been invited to holiday parties in the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, to political rallies in Texas and to events at the White House by both the Biden and Trump administrations.

From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2026

He earned his high-school GED as an airman and went on to get degrees at Cheyney University and the University of Pennsylvania.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

On a bridge in Pennsylvania that connects to another bridge.

From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026

Seybert had left money in his will to fund a commission made up of ten University of Pennsylvania faculty tasked with proving the truth of Spiritualism.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock