California

See also: california, californià, Califórnia, and Califòrnia

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”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌkæl.ɪˈfɔɹ.njə/, /ˌkæl.ɪˈfɔɹ.ni.ə/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -ɔː(r)niə
• Hyphenation: Cal‧i‧for‧nia

Proper noun

California

1. The most populous state of the United States. Capital: Sacramento. Largest city: Los Angeles.

   Synonyms: CA (abbreviation), Cali (slang), Commiefornia (derogatory)

   • 1971, Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “California”, in Blue:

     But my heart cried out for you, California / Oh, California, I'm coming home

2. Several places in the United States.
   1. A census-designated place in Maryland.
   2. A borough of Pennsylvania.
   3. A city in Missouri.
   4. A neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.
   5. A city in Campbell County, Kentucky.
   6. A neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky.
   7. A village in Maine.
   8. A ghost town in West Virginia.
3. Several places in England.
   1. A village in Berkshire.
   2. A neighbourhood of Birmingham, West Midlands (OS grid ref SP0182).
   3. An area in Derby, Derbyshire.
   4. A district of Ipswich, Suffolk.
   5. A hamlet in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
   6. A hamlet in Kensworth, Bedfordshire.
   7. A coastal resort in Ormesby St Margaret with Scratby, Norfolk.
4. A community in Ontario, Canada.
5. A town in Santander department, Colombia.
6. A town in Usulután department, El Salvador.
7. A neighborhood of Casablanca, Morocco.
8. A village in Bohol, Philippines.
9. A village in Stirlingshire, Scotland.
10. A town in Trinidad and Tobago.
11. University of California, Berkeley.

Derived terms

• Alta California
• Baja California
• CA
• californate
• California holly
• California Jack
• Californian
• Californianization
• Californianize
• California pizza
• California poppy
• California stop
• California-style pizza
• californite
• californium
• daughter from California syndrome
• Gulf of California
• Norcal
• Socal

 

Translations

US state

• Arabic: كَالِيفُورْنِيَا‎ f (kālīfūrniyā)
• Armenian: Կալիֆոռնիա (hy) (Kalifoṙnia)
• Basque: Kalifornia
• Bavarian: Kalifornien
• Belarusian: Каліфорнія (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 (zh), 加利福尼亚州 (zh) (Jiālìfúníyǎ zhōu), 加州 (zh) (Jiāzhōu)

• Cornish: Kaliforni
• Czech: Kalifornie (cs) f
• Danish: Californien
• Dutch: Californië (nl) n
• Esperanto: Kalifornio
• 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)
• Hawaiian: Kaleponi
• Hebrew: קליפורניה‎ f (qalifornia)
• Hindi: कैलिफ़ोर्निया (kailiforniyā), कैलीफोर्निया (kailīphorniyā)
• Hungarian: Kalifornia (hu)
• Icelandic: Kalifornía f
• Ido: Kalifornia (io)
• Inuktitut: ᑳᓖᐴᕐᓃᐊ (kaaliipuurniia)
• Irish: an Chalafóirn f
• Italian: California (it) f
• Japanese: カリフォルニア州 (ja) (Kariforunia-shū), 加州 (ja) (Kashū)
• Korean: 캘리포니아 주 (Kaelliponia ju)
• Lao: ກາລິຟໍເນັຍ (kā li fǭ nia)
• Latin: California f
• Latvian: Kalifornija f
• Limburgish: ^{(please verify)} Californije
• Lithuanian: Kalifornija f

• Luxembourgish: Kalifornien (lb)
• Macedonian: Калифо́рнија f (Kalifórnija)
• Maltese: Kalifornja
• Maori: Karapōnia
• Marathi: कॅलिफॉर्निया m (kĕliphŏrniyā)
• Navajo: Ahééháshį́į́h hahoodzo
• 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
• Slovak: Kalifornia f
• Slovene: Kalifórnija (sl) f
• Somali: Kalifornia
• Spanish: California (es) f
• Swedish: Kalifornien (sv)
• Tagalog: Kalipornya
• Tamil: கலிபோர்னியா (kalipōrṉiyā)
• Telugu: కాలిఫోర్నియా (kāliphōrniyā)
• Thai: แคลิฟอร์เนีย (kɛɛ-lí-fɔɔ-niia)
• Tongan: Kalifonia
• Turkish: Kaliforniya (tr)
• Ukrainian: Каліфорнія f (Kalifornija)
• Uyghur: كالىفورنىيە‎ (kaliforniye)
• Vietnamese: Ca Li (vi), Ca-li, Ca-li-phoóc-ni-a, Caliphoócnia
• Welsh: Califfornia (cy)
• West Frisian: Kalifornje n
• Yiddish: קאַליפֿאָרניע‎ (kalifornye)

village in Scotland

• Scots: Californie

• Scottish Gaelic: Calafornaidh

See also

• Appendix:Place names in California

Further reading

• California on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Fornicalia

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Danish

Proper noun

California (genitive Californias)

1. Alternative form of Californien

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Galician

Proper noun

California

1. California (a state of the United States)

Related terms

• californiano

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Italian

Etymology

From English California.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.liˈfɔr.nja/

Proper noun

California f

1. California (a state of the United States)

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Latin

Etymology

Neo-Latin. From Spanish California

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ka.liˈfor.ni.a/, [ka.l̪ɪˈfɔr.ni.a]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ka.liˈfor.ni.a/, [ka.liˈfɔr.ni.a]

Proper noun

California f sg (genitive Californiae); first declension

1. (New Latin) California

   California regiō magna est. ― California is a big region.

Declension

First-declension noun, with locative, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	California
Genitive	Californiae
Dative	Californiae
Accusative	Californiam
Ablative	Californiā
Vocative	California
Locative	Californiae

Derived terms

• californiānus
• californicus

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Romanian

Proper noun

California f

1. California (a state of the United States)

Related terms

• californian

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Spanish

Etymology

Mentioned 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 related to califa (“caliph”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaliˈfornja/

Proper noun

California f

1. California (a state of the United States)

Derived terms

• Alta California
• Baja California
• californiano
• californio

References

• Putnam, Ruth (1917). Herbert Ingram Priestley (ed.). California: the name. Berkeley: University of California.