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California . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
California , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
California in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
California you have here. The definition of the word
California will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
California , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Map of US highlighting California
Etymology
Probably Spanish after California , a Utopian island of the Amazons described in Las sergas de Esplandián , a 16th-century Spanish novel. The name comes from the fictional island's Muslim-allied queen, Calafia , whose name is a play on Arabic خَلِيفَة ( ḵalīfa , “ caliph ” ) . For more information see: Etymology of California .
Pronunciation
Proper noun
California (countable and uncountable , plural Californias )
The most populous state of the United States . Capital: Sacramento . Largest city: Los Angeles .
Synonyms: ( abbreviation ) CA , ( slang ) Cali , ( derogatory ) Commiefornia
1971 , Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “California”, in Blue :But my heart cried out for you, California / Oh, California , I'm coming home
( chiefly historical ) A region on the west coast of North America comprising the US state of California and the Baja California peninsula in Mexico; historically also including other areas in Alta California and Baja California.
Several places in the United States .
A census-designated place in Maryland .
A borough of Pennsylvania .
A city, the county seat of Moniteau County , Missouri .
A neighborhood of Cincinnati , Ohio .
A city in Campbell County , Kentucky .
A neighborhood of Louisville , Kentucky .
A village in Maine .
A ghost town in West Virginia .
Several places in England :
A village in Berkshire .
A neighbourhood of Birmingham , West Midlands ( OS grid ref SP0182 ) .
An area in Derby , Derbyshire .
A district of Ipswich , Suffolk .
A hamlet in Aylesbury , Buckinghamshire .
An outer suburb of Dunstable , Bedfordshire ( OS grid ref TL0120 ) .
A coastal resort in Ormesby St Margaret with Scratby , Norfolk .
A community of Ontario , Canada .
A town in the Santander department, Colombia .
A town in the Usulután department, El Salvador .
A neighborhood of Casablanca , Morocco .
A barangay of Barotac Viejo , Iloilo , Philippines .
Coordinate terms: Bugnay , California , De la Peña , Del Pilar , General Luna , La Fortuna , Lipata , Natividad , Nueva Invencion , Nueva Sevilla , Poblacion , Puerto Princesa , Rizal , San Antonio , San Fernando , San Francisco , San Geronimo , San Juan , San Lucas , San Miguel , San Roque , Santiago , Santo Domingo , Santo Tomas , Ugasan , Vista Alegre — barangays of Barotac Viejo
A barangay of Ubay , Bohol , Philippines .
Coordinate terms: Achila , Bay-ang , Benliw , Biabas , Bongbong , Bood , Buenavista , Bulilis , Cagting , Calanggaman , California , Camali-an , Camambugan , Casate , Cuya , Fatima , Gabi , Governor Boyles , Guintabo-an , Hambabauran , Humayhumay , Ilihan , Imelda , Juagdan , Katarungan , Lomangog , Los Angeles , Pag-asa , Pangpang , Poblacion , San Francisco , San Isidro , San Pascual , San Vicente , Sentinila , Sinandigan , Tapal , Tapon , Tintinan , Tipolo , Tubog , Tuboran , Union , Villa Teresita — barangays of Ubay
A village in Stirlingshire , Scotland .
A town in Trinidad and Tobago .
University of California, Berkeley .
Derived terms
Translations
US state
Albanian: Kalifornia
Amharic: ካሊፎርኒያ ( kaliforniya )
Arabic: كَالِيفُورْنِيَا f ( kālīfūrniyā )
Hijazi Arabic: كاليفورنيا f ( kālifōrnya, kalifōrnya )
Armenian: Կալիֆոռնիա (hy) ( Kalifoṙnia )
Azerbaijani: Kaliforniya (az)
Basque: Kalifornia
Bavarian: Kalifornien
Belarusian: Каліфорнія ( Kalifórnija )
Breton: Kalifornia f
Bulgarian: Калифо́рния ( Kalifórnija )
Burmese: ကာလီဖိုးနီးယား ( kalihpui:ni:ya: )
Catalan: Califòrnia (ca)
Cherokee: ᎠᏕᎳᏧᏢᎢ ( adelatsutlvi )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 加利福尼亞州 / 加利福尼亚州 ( gaa1 lei6 fuk1 nei4 aa3 ) , 加州 ( gaa1 zau1 )
Mandarin: 加利福尼亞州 / 加利福尼亚州 (zh) ( Jiālìfúníyǎ zhōu ) , 加州 (zh) ( Jiāzhōu )
Cornish: Kaliforni f
Czech: Kalifornie (cs) f
Danish: Californien
Dutch: Californië (nl) n
Esperanto: Kalifornio (eo)
Estonian: California (et)
Faroese: Kalifornia n
Finnish: Kalifornia (fi)
French: Californie (fr) f
Galician: California (gl) f
Georgian: კალიფორნია ( ḳalipornia )
German: Kalifornien (de) n
Greek: Καλιφόρνια (el) ( Kalifórnia ) , Καλιφορνία ( Kalifornía )
Guaraní: Kalihõryña
Gujarati: કેલિફોર્નિયા ( keliphorniyā )
Haitian Creole: Kalifòni
Hawaiian: Kaleponi
Hebrew: קליפורניה f ( qalifornia )
Hindi: कैलिफ़ोर्निया ( kailiforniyā ) , कैलीफोर्निया ( kailīphorniyā )
Hungarian: Kalifornia (hu)
Icelandic: Kalifornía f
Ido: Kalifornia (io)
Inuktitut: ᑳᓖᐴᕐᓃᐊ ( kaaliipoorniia )
Irish: an Chalafóirn f
Italian: California (it) f
Japanese: カリフォルニア州 (ja) ( Kariforunia-shū ) , 加州 (ja) ( Kashū )
Kannada: ಕ್ಯಾಲಿಫೊರ್ನಿಯ ( kyāliphorniya )
Kazakh: Калифорния (kk) ( Kaliforniä )
Khmer: កាលីហ្វ័រញ៉ា ( kaaliihvɔəñaa )
Korean: 캘리포니아 ( Kaelliponia )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کالیفۆڕنیا (ckb) ( kalîforrnya )
Northern Kurdish: Kalîforniya
Kyrgyz: Калифорния ( Kaliforniya )
Lao: ແຄລິຟໍເນຍ ( khǣ li fǭ nīa ) , ກາລິຟໍເນຍ ( kā li fǭ nīa )
Latin: California f
Latvian: Kalifornija f
Limburgish: (please verify ) Californije
Lithuanian: Kalifornija f
Luxembourgish: Kalifornien (lb)
Macedonian: Калифо́рнија f ( Kalifórnija )
Malayalam: കാലിഫോർണിയ ( kāliphōṟṇiya )
Maltese: Kalifornja
Maori: Karapōnia
Marathi: कॅलिफॉर्निया m ( kĕliphŏrniyā )
Mongolian: Калифорни ( Kaliforni )
Navajo: Ahééháshį́į́h hahoodzo
Nepali: क्यालिफोर्निया ( kyāliphorniyā )
Norman: Califournie f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: California (no)
Nynorsk: California
Pennsylvania German: Kalifornie
Persian: کالیفرنیا (fa) ( kâliforniyâ )
Polish: Kalifornia (pl) f
Portuguese: Califórnia (pt) f
Romanian: California (ro) f
Russian: Калифо́рния (ru) f ( Kalifórnija )
Samogitian: Kalėfuornėjė
Scots: Californie
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Калифо̀рнија f
Roman: Kalifòrnija (sh) f
Silesian: Kaliforńijo
Sinhalese: කැලිෆෝනියාවේ ( kælifōniyāwē )
Slovak: Kalifornia f
Slovene: Kalifórnija (sl) f
Somali: Kalifornia
Spanish: California (es) f
Swedish: Kalifornien (sv)
Tagalog: Kaliporniya
Tajik: Калифорния ( Kaliforniya )
Tamil: கலிபோர்னியா ( kalipōrṉiyā )
Telugu: కాలిఫోర్నియా ( kāliphōrniyā )
Thai: แคลิฟอร์เนีย ( kɛɛ-lí-fɔɔ-niia )
Tibetan: ཁྰ་ལེ་ཧྥོར་ནི་ཡ ( kh'a le hphor ni ya )
Tongan: Kalifonia
Turkish: Kaliforniya (tr)
Ukrainian: Каліфорнія (uk) f ( Kalifornija )
Urdu: کیلیفورنیا ( kelīforniyā )
Uyghur: كالىفورنىيە ( kaliforniye )
Uzbek: Kaliforniya
Vietnamese: Ca Li (vi) , Ca-li , Ca-li-phoóc-ni-a , Caliphoócnia
Walloon: Californeye
Welsh: Califfornia (cy) f
West Frisian: Kalifornje n
Yiddish: קאַליפֿאָרניע ( kalifornye )
See also
Further reading
Anagrams
Central Nahuatl
Proper noun
California
California (a state of the United States )
Danish
Proper noun
California (genitive Californias )
Alternative form of Californien
Galician
Proper noun
California
California (a state of the United States )
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from English California .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ka.liˈfɔr.nja/
Rhymes: -ɔrnja
Hyphenation: Ca‧li‧fòr‧nia
Proper noun
California f
California (a state of the United States )
Latin
Etymology
New Latin , borrowed from Spanish California .
Pronunciation
Proper noun
California f sg (genitive Californiae ) ; first declension
( New Latin ) California
California regiō magna est. ― California is a big region.
Declension
First-declension noun, singular only.
Derived terms
Romanian
Proper noun
California f
California (a state of the United States )
Spanish
Etymology
First attested in Montalvo's Las sergas de Esplandián as the name of Calafia 's monarchy. A name invented by the author to remind Spanish readers of the recent Reconquista , probably based on califa ( “ caliph ” ) .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /kaliˈfoɾnja/
Rhymes: -oɾnja
Syllabification: Ca‧li‧for‧nia
Proper noun
California f
California (a state of the United States )
A town in the Usulután department, El Salvador
Derived terms
References
Putnam, Ruth (1917). Herbert Ingram Priestley (ed.). California: the name. Berkeley: University of California.