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

Mastick and co-author Rachel Welicky, an assistant professor at Neumann University in Pennsylvania, tested different techniques to analyze the samples.

From Science Daily • Apr. 1, 2026

The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday voted 4-0 to accept a report from investigators in the crashes in Texas and Pennsylvania.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

One Friday night last year, Akylah Cox and her boyfriend took a red-eye flight from Pennsylvania to Dublin for a whirlwind adventure.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026

The Republican leaders of the state legislatures in Wisconsin and Michigan and Pennsylvania?

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

In 1780, Pennsylvania had made slavery illegal, the first state to do so.

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