Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pennsylvania

/ˌpɛn.sɪlˈveɪ.ni.ə/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.40 in modern English

Syllables
Penn-syl-va-ni-a
IPA
/ˌpɛn.sɪlˈveɪ.ni.ə/
20
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A state of the United States. Capital: Harrisburg. Largest city: Philadelphia.

name

A former colony of England, from 1681 to 1707, and of Great Britain, from 1707 to 1776, which grew progressively larger before becoming the present state.

name

The first, and historically largest, now defunct US railroad, a hallmark of the industrial age.

name

An unincorporated community in Mobile County, Alabama, United States.

name

A suburb of Exeter, Devon, England (OS grid ref SX9294).

name

A hamlet in Cold Ashton parish, South Gloucestershire district, Gloucestershire, England (OS grid ref ST7473).

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree English Penn Proto-Indo-European *sel-der.? Latin silva Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *-ānos Latin -ānus Latin silvānusder. English sylvan Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -iader. English -ia English Pennsylvania From Penn (“William Penn”) + sylvan (“woods”) + -ia (“land”). On March 4, 1681, Charles II of England granted a land tract to William Penn for the area that now includes Pennsylvania. Penn then founded a colony there as a place of religious freedom for Quakers, and named it for the Latin sylva, silva (“wood”), thus Pennsylvania (“Penn’s woods”). Some propose that the Penn is derived from William’s more respected father, also named William Penn.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˌpɛn.sɪlˈveɪ.ni.ə/
  • British English: /ˌpɛn.sɪlˈveɪ.ni.ə/

Inflected Forms

Pensylvania (alternative) Pensilvania (alternative)

Derived Forms

PA Pennamite Pennsyltucky Pennsylvanian Pistolvania Westsylvania

Phrases

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Penn Station Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania barn Pennsylvania Dutch English Pennsylvania German Pennsylvania rifle Pennsylvania sedge

Frequently Paired Words

Pittsylvania Spotsylvania sylvan Sylvania Transylvania

Synonyms

PA The Keystone State

Rhymes With

catania dania romania tasmania lithuania mania albania transylvania lusitania pomerania megalomania spotsylvania

Questions

How do you pronounce pennsylvania?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌpɛn.sɪlˈveɪ.ni.ə/.
What does pennsylvania mean?
A state of the United States. Capital: Harrisburg. Largest city: Philadelphia.
Where does pennsylvania come from?
Etymology tree English Penn Proto-Indo-European *sel-der.? Latin silva Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *-ānos Latin -ānus Latin silvānusder. English sylvan Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -iader. English -ia English Pennsylvania From Penn (“William Penn”) + sylvan (“woods”) + -ia (“land”). On March 4, 1681, Charles II of England granted a land tract to William Penn for the area that now includes Pennsylvania. Penn then founded a colony there as a place of religious freedom for Quakers, and named it for the Latin sylva, silva (“wood”), thus Pennsylvania (“Penn’s woods”). Some propose that the Penn is derived from William’s more respected father, also named William Penn.

How to pronounce pennsylvania

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pennsylvania”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌpɛn.sɪlˈveɪ.ni.ə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “pennsylvania”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “pennsylvania” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.