Sentence:  The term `` State '' means the several States , the District of Columbia , the Virgin Islands , Guam and Puerto Rico ; the term `` United States '' includes the several States and the District of Columbia , and excludes the <WSD>Virgin</WSD> Islands , Guam and Puerto Rico , and , prior to 1962 , Alaska and Hawaii . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a group of islands in northeastern West Indies (east of Puerto Rico) discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493; owned by United States and Britain