Ontario

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A province in east-central Canada known for its large population, diverse economy, and the presence of the national capital, Ottawa
2. A geographic region in Canada characterized by urban centers like Toronto, extensive freshwater lakes, and a mix of cultural and natural attractions
3. An administrative area in Canada that hosts major cities, important governmental institutions, and natural resources including portions of the Great Lakes shoreline

Etymology: The name of the province is probably borrowed from Wyandot, an Iroquoian language, where "ontari꞉io" is thought to mean "great lake." The likely source of the word is the lake itself, which the province and a New York county were later named after. The Wyandot term traces back through reconstructed ancestor languages, Proto-North Iroquoian and Proto-Iroquoian, which is why the word's roots are sometimes described as a single Iroquoian element meaning something like "lake" or "water." The chain of meaning runs in a useful direction. A word that once described one body of water passed to a whole region, and then to a political unit that now holds a large share of Canada's population and its national capital, Ottawa. The name began as a description of a landscape feature and became a label for a province, the reverse of how many place names started out as personal names or settlements.

Synonyms: canadian province