States
- Arizona (either from árida zona, meaning arid zone, or from a Spanish word of Basque origin meaning the good oak)
- California (from the name of a fictional island country in "Las sergas de Esplandián", a popular Spanish chivalric romance by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo)
- Colorado (meaning "red " or "ruddy". Named after the Colorado River, whose waters were of that color.)
- Florida (Meaning "flowery" or "florid", because it was discovered by Ponce de León on Easter Sunday, called Pascua Florida to distinguish this holiday, which occurs in springtime when flowers are abundant, from other Christian holidays called Pascua in Spanish, such as Christmas and Epiphany.
- Montana (from montaña, meaning "mountain")
- Nevada (meaning "snowy", from Sierra Nevada, meaning "snow capped range of mountains". Sierra means "a range of mountains,", literally "a saw," from Latin serra.
- New Mexico (Calqued from Nuevo México)
- Texas (based on the Caddo word teshas meaning "friends" or "allies", which was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas). The letter x had a "sh" sound in 16th century Spanish which gradually evolved to an "h" sound, which under later spelling reforms was assigned to the letter j (which originally also had a "zh", "j" or "y" sound). Thus the modern Spanish spelling Tejas, which sounds like "Tehas".
- Utah (Spanish word of Nahuatl origin, first used by friar Gerónimo Salmerón as Yuta or Uta in Spanish)
Read more about this topic: List Of U.S. Place Names Of Spanish Origin
Famous quotes containing the word states:
“I believe the citizens of Marion County and the United States want to have judges who have feelings and who are human beings.”
—Paula Lopossa, U.S. judge. As quoted in the New York Times, p. B9 (May 21, 1993)
“The government of the United States at present is a foster-child of the special interests. It is not allowed to have a voice of its own. It is told at every move, “Don’t do that, You will interfere with our prosperity.” And when we ask: “where is our prosperity lodged?” a certain group of gentlemen say, “With us.””
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“How many ages hence
Shall this our lofty scene be acted over
In states unborn and accents yet unknown!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)