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

Former reality TV star Yolanda Hadid has relisted her family’s sprawling Pennsylvania farm for $10.88 million—several months after the picturesque property “fell out of escrow.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026

From 1754 to 1758, he served his military apprenticeship against the French and their Native American allies on the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

She said it barred her from boarding a flight to a speaking engagement in a small town in Pennsylvania.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026

She became a Pennsylvania school librarian in 2012.

From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026

There was a ten-year-old law in Pennsylvania that said slaves brought into the state would be free after living there for six months.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis