Canada

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kəˈnɑːdə/

Definitions

1. A country in North America, the second-largest by area, known for its vast wilderness, multicultural cities, and maple leaf symbol
2. A nation located in North America that is renowned for its expansive natural landscapes, diverse population, and iconic national symbols
3. A sovereign state in North America characterized by its large territory, variety of cultural communities, and notable natural features

Etymology: The name "Canada" began as a word for a village, not a country. Portuguese explorers in the 1500s picked up a local Iroquoian word for a settlement and used it for the land along the St. Lawrence River, and the term spread from there. Its earlier form was "canada," which the Portuguese may have borrowed from a word used by the Indigenous peoples they encountered. Some scholars connect the word to the Spanish "cañada," meaning a narrow valley or a path between fields, which in turn came from Latin "canna," meaning cane or reed. That reed-and-valley sense is a plausible but disputed path, so the word's exact route into Portuguese remains uncertain. Whatever its source, the word was used for the region long before it named a nation. It only became the official name of the country in 1867, when the British North America Act created the Dominion of Canada.