How Many US States Have One Syllable? How Many US States Have One Syllable? Tweet Only one U.S. state has one syllable — Maine. It's also the only state to border only one other state — New Hampshire. No one is really sure where Maine's name came from. Some surmise that it was named after an ancient French province — the Province of Maine; others believe it was a derivation of the world "mainland." The word "Maine" was first officially used in 1665 in a request by the King's Commissioners that "The Province of Maine" be used in official documents. More Syllabic Facts: Only five countries in the world have one syllable: Chad, France, Spain, Greece, Laos, though Wales might make six depending on how you pronounce it (Way-als). The most syllables in a state's name is five. Three states share this trait: Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Three states have only four letters in their name: Ohio, Iowa and Utah. Screeched and strengths are the longest one-syllable words in the English language. Follow wiseGEEK: Quiz: How well do you know the 50 states?

- CSMonitor.com Quiz: How well do you know the 50 states? For kids: Test your knowledge of the nifty 50 states and their capitals. By Felice Prager Save for later Saved Here's a quiz about the United States. "Not geography," you protest! Not at all. Try this first without a map. Then, take out a map and see how many of these you can do as you hunt for clues. 1. Do you know the state names that are made up of more than one word? One fifth of the 50 states have names with two words. 2. Can you name state capitals that resemble seasons or months of the year? Photos of the Day Photos of the day 02/08 4. Which state names begin and end with the same letter? Hint: There are four. 5. Although the spelling of this state has 11 letters in total, it actually only uses four letters of the alphabet. What is it? 6. This state's name is nine letters long and uses only four letters of the alphabet. Name that state! 7.

What is the only state whose capital's name is made up of three words – with each of the three words having four letters in them? 8. How many states can you name that have only one vowel? Hint: The vowel can be repeated. 9. What states have their names as part of the names of their state capital? Hint: There are two. 10. Can you name the four sets of states and capitals that have the state and the capital names beginning with the same letter? 11. Can you name the four state capitals (and the state in which the city is found) that have "city" in their names? Answers: 1. New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia. 2. Augusta (Maine) and Springfield (Illinois). 3. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Charleston, West Virginia, both have 22 letters each. 4. Alabama, Arizona, Alaska, and Ohio. 5. Mississippi. 7. Utah (Salt Lake City). 8. There are six: Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. 9.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Indianapolis, Indiana. 10. Dover, Delaware; Honolulu, Hawaii; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 11. Jefferson City, Missouri; Carson City, Nevada; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Salt Lake City, Utah. Next up Maine State Facts - 50States.com Maryland Maine Facts and Trivia Eastport is the most eastern city in the United States. The city is considered the first place in the United States to receive the rays of the morning sun. In Wilton there's a cannery that imports and cans only dandelion greens. Maine is the only state in the United States whose name has one syllable. Maine is the only state that shares its border with only one other state. Bath is known as the City of Ships. Joshua L. Chamberlain born in Brewer received the only battlefield promotion to General during the Civil War. He was also the last Civil War soldier to die of wounds incurred in the War.

The White Mountain National Forest covers nearly 800,000 acres, the forest covers a landscape ranging from hardwood forests to the largest alpine area east of the Rocky Mountains Aroostook County at 6,453 square miles covers an area greater than the combined size of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Approximately 40 millions pounds (nearly 90 percent) of the nation's lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine. Maine produces 99% of all the blueberries in the country making it the single largest producer of blueberries in the United States. Maine's earliest inhabitants were descendants of Ice Age hunters. Portland was first temporarily selected as the state capital. In 1832 the capital was moved to the centrally located site of Augusta. In 1641 America's first chartered city was York. Acadia National Park is the second most visited national park in the United States. West Quoddy Head is the most easterly point in the United States. Augusta is the most eastern capital city in the United States. Mount Katahdin is the state's highest point at 5,268 feet above sea level.

Togus was the first Veteran's Hospital in the United States. The facility was founded in 1866. An unsuccessful attempt at establishing a permanent English settlement in the New World was at the location now known as Popham Beach. Sir George Popham led the expedition in 1607. 90% of the country's toothpick supply is produced in Maine. Portland is the birthplace of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Senator Margaret Chase Smith stood up in the senate and gave the famous Declaration of Conscious speech, speaking out against the McCarthy era. Senator Smith was the first female presidential candidate. Author Steven King is a resident of Bangor. Former President George Bush has a summer home in Kennebunkport. Freeport is the home to the L.L. Bean Company. The skating scene in the movie "The Preacher's Wife" was filmed in Deering Oaks Park in Portland. The chickadee is the official state bird. Maine lies farther northeast than any other state. Maine's nickname as the Pine Tree State comes from the pines that once dotted the state's forests.

With a total area of 33,215 square miles the state covers nearly as many square miles as the other five New England states combined. The state flower is the white pine cone and tassel. The coastline boasts so many deep harbors it is thought all the navies in the world could anchor in them. Maine lobsters have won international fame for their flavor and contribution to the culinary world. The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport houses numerous historic buildings and marine memorabilia. Fort Knox erected in 1844 is a state historic site originally built to protect the Penobscot River Valley from British naval attack. The fort was constructed from granite from nearby Mount Waldo. Numerous lighthouses dot the Main coast including Fort Point Lighthouse at Fort Point State Park in Stockton Springs and Grindle Point Lighthouse on Isleboro. The Sailor's Memorial Museum in Isleboro features displays depicting life at sea. Located in Thorndike Village, the Bryant Stove Works and Museum displays an eclectic collection of antique cast iron stoves, parlor heaters, roadsters and touring cars.

In addition, the museum features antique layer pianos, pipe organs and music boxes, calliopes, nickelodeons, and hurdy-gurdys. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was considered the most influential poet of his day. The writer was born in Portland, on February 2, 1807. His most popular works include "The Courtship of Miles Standish", "Evangeline" and "Hiawatha". The nation's first sawmill was established near York in 1623. York became the nation's first incorporated city in 1642. The first ship build by English colonists in Americas was launched on the Kennebec River in 1607. The first naval battle of the Revolutionary War was fought off Machias in 1775. Maine was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state on March 15, 1820. Maine's blueberry crop is the largest in the nation. The honeybee is the official state insect. Maine contains 542,629 acres of state and national parks. Edmund S. Muskie became the first Democratic United States senator ever elected by popular vote in Maine.

He was also elected governor for two terms. He was born in Rumford. Eastport is the only United States owned principality that has been under rule by a foreign government. It was held from 1814 to 1818 by British troops under King George following the conclusion of the War of 1812. Maine's government entities are comprised of 16 counties with 22 cities, 435 towns, 33 plantations, 424 unorganized townships and 3 Indian reservations. Thanks to: David C. Weiler, Henry Miller, Cindy Coffin, Larryel, Cheryl Emerson Language Trivia Word Wise > Speaking of Language Language Trivia "Euouae," a medieval music term, is the longest word in English that contains only vowels. It’s also the word with the most consecutive vowels. "Screeched," which means to make a harsh sound, is the longest one-syllable word in English. "Unprosperousness", meaning not wealthy or profitable, is the longest word in English in which each letter is used at least two times.

The words "facetiously," "abstemiously," and "arseniously," each contain all six vowels (including “y”) in alphabetical order. The word "duoliteral" contains all five vowels (not including “y”) in reverse alphabetical order. At 45 letters, "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis," which refers to a lung disease, is often considered the longest word in English. "Feedback" is the shortest word in English that has the letters a, b, c, d, e, and f. "Floccinaucinihilipilification," is the longest word in English that does not contain letter “e” No words in English rhyme with: "month," "orange," "silver," or "purple." “Q” is the only letter that does not occur in any of the U.S. state names. "Maine" is the only U.S. state whose name is just one syllable. "Bookkeeper" is the only English word that has three consecutive double letters.

The word “therein” contains only seven letters, but it contains 10 words that can be formed using consecutive letters: the, there, I, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, herein. The sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” is a pangram, which is a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet. "United Arab Emirates," a small country in the Middle East, is made up of alternating vowels and consonants. It is the longest name of a country whose letters do that. Grow Questions | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | Week 1 1. What is the name of the imaginary line that divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres? 2. Which of the following is not a state: Rhode Island, Louisiana, Sacramento, Montana? 3. What are the names of the four hemispheres of the Earth? 4. What part of a map contains information on what the map's symbols mean? 5. Is the Tropic of Cancer north or south of the Equator? 6.

Name the five oceans of the Earth according to size, largest to smallest. 7. What does a star or dot in a circle usually mean on a map? 8. What is the name given to a point of land extending into a body of water? Week 2 1.What are the six continents of the Earth? 2.What is the definition of a peninsula? Find an example of a peninsula on a map. 3.Locate the Gulf of Mexico on a map. Now write a definition of a gulf. 4.Which of the following is not a city: Seattle, Miami, Idaho, Chicago? 5.Find an example of an area of land that is smaller than a continent and is completely surrounded by water. What term is used to describe this type of land? 6.What is the northernmost point in the world called? 7.Is the Arctic Circle north or south of the Equator? 8.What are the two continents in the world with the largest areas? 1.In which hemisphere(s) is Russia located? 2.What does a star on a map usually mean? 3.Name the five Great Lakes. 4.What is the capital of North Dakota, a state admitted to the United States in 1889?

5.Draw the four cardinal directions on a compass rose. 6.Which sea is largest: North, Mediterranean, Caspian, South China? 7.Is Mississippi east or west of Alabama? 8.A strait is a narrow body of water connecting two larger bodies of water. Find an example of a strait on your map. Week 4 1.If you were traveling from Denver, Colorado, to Bismarck, North Dakota, what direction would you be going? 2.Many maps have a grid system, scale and a ___________. 3.Which state is farther north, North Dakota or Maine? 4.What two countries border Mongolia? 5.What were the names of the original thirteen states? 6.Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is located on what sea? 7.Which of these cities is in the Southern Hemisphere: Paris, France; Tokyo, Japan; Lima, Peru; Washington, D.C.? 8.To which continent does Central America belong? 1.What is the Caribbean island with the second largest land area? 2.What river flows just south of Cincinnati, Ohio? 3.What is the capital of the state that is bordered by Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma? 4.The Prime Meridian passes through which three continents?

5.How many states are west of the Mississippi River? 6.Bolivia is one of two landlocked countries in South America. What is the name of the other country? 7.If you are in downtown Chicago and facing north, what direction would you go to reach Lake Michigan? 8.Mexico City is the capital of Mexico. Is Mexico City north or south of the Tropic of Capricorn? Week 7 1.Lisbon is to Portugal as ______ is to Cameroon. 2.What is the difference between a natural and a political boundary? Give an example of each. 3.Which polar region contains more land? 4.How many countries are there in Central America? 5.What color probably is found on a world map more than any other? 6.Which ocean does most of the International Date line pass through? 7.What is the difference between a physical and a political map? 8.What is the capital of the only country that borders both the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea? Week 8 1.Name the Gulf located east of Texas, west of Florida, and north of southern Mexico? 2.What is the capital of the island nation off the coast of east Eurasia through which the Tropic of Cancer passes?

3.What is the name of the country whose neighbors are Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina? 4.Does the Northern or Southern Hemisphere have more land? 5.What ocean borders Australia's western coastline? 6.What are the capitals of the two states that border both the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers? 7.Which distance is greater, Fort Worth to Los Angeles or Fort Worth to New York? 8.What are the two oceans through which the Equator does not pass? 1.How many of the United States are above the Tropic of Capricorn? 2.Which is more mountainous, eastern or western North America? 3.What's the longest country in South America? 4.Which country is farther south, Portugal or Spain? 5.Name the six continents. 6.How are Paraguay and Zambia similar? 7.Which city is farthest north: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco? 8.Which of the following football teams play home games in cities located in Ohio: Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Cincinnati Bengals? Week 12 1.Which hemisphere is larger, the Eastern or Western? 2.What country would you have to travel through when driving from Seattle, Washington, to Anchorage, Alaska?

3.Which is farther north, North Carolina or South Dakota? 4.Name the gulf located between the countries of Sweden and Finland? 5.Whose border is closer to the Pacific Ocean, Nevada or Idaho? 6.What four large islands make up the Greater Antilles in the West Indies? 7.Which of the forty-eight contiguous states has the largest land area? 8.What is the name of the large mountain range in South America? top Week 13 1.What direction would you probably be flying if you were traveling from San Francisco, California, to Miami, Florida? 2.Libya is to Africa as Venezuela is to ____________. 3.Which of the fifty states is farthest west? 4.What country has a land border with Denmark? 5.Which continents does the Tropic of Cancer pass through? 6.What large island nation is located off the southeast coast of Africa? 7.Who owns Baja(or Lower) California? 8.What is the state with the smallest land area? 1.What mountain range is located between the Black and Caspian Seas? 2.Paraguay is to Bolivia as ______ is to Honduras. 3.What large river in Brazil has its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean?

4.Which are closer to the Equator, the nomads of the Sahara or coffee growers of Colombia? 5.What river in part forms the southern border of the United States? 6.Which continent is closer to the South Pole, Africa or Australia? 7.What five continents touch the Pacific Ocean? 8.Which state is due south of New Hampshire and Vermont? Week 15 1.Which lake does the Equator pass through: Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi, Lake Chad? 2.What is the city, located on the Conagree River, that is the capital of South Carolina? 3.Which hemisphere has more land, the Eastern or Western? 4.You leave the Miami port in your new yacht to travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico. What direction should your compass be indicating? 5.What is the only Central American country that doesn't touch the Pacific Ocean? 6.Which country would generally have higher temperatures year round, Laos or Yugoslavia? Why? 7.What is the capital of New Jersey, the state where the first recorded baseball game took place in 1846? 8.What countries border Iraq? 1.Arrange the seven countries of Central America in alphabetical order. 2.Find the name of the large desert that runs along Africa's southwestern coast.

3.Madrid is to Spain as _______ is to France. 4.Name the river that forms a border between the states of Washington and Oregon. 5.What Middle Eastern country that lies between Iraq and Afghanistan used to be called Persia? 6.The Tropic of Cancer is to the Tropic of Capricorn as the Arctic Circle is to the ______ ________. 7.The city of Shanghai in China is near the mouth of what river? 8.Does the Prime Meridian pass through the North or South Pole? top Week 17 1.A map key should tell what the symbols on a map mean. What does a small blackened dot usually represent? 2.Which state contains the name of the country bordering the United States? 3.What is the name given to the half of the Earth that includes Eurasia, Australia, most of Africa, Europe, and Antarctica, and their waters? 4.Which distance is shorter, Africa to South America or Africa to Australia? 5.Which circle passes through more continents, Antarctic or Arctic? 6.Which state has no border on the Atlantic Ocean: New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont? 7.Which Great Lake is the only one that does not also belong to Canada? 8.How many continents are totally within the Western Hemisphere?

1.What is the name of the large gulf on the northern coast of Australia? 2.What is another name for a line of latitude? 3.If you were to fly from Atlanta, Georgia, to St. Louis, Missouri, what direction would you most likely be traveling? 4.What country has the largest land area in the Western Hemisphere? 5.In what state, whose borders are North and South Dakota to the east, do the Rocky Mountains cover about 40% of the Land surface? 6.What country has the largest land area in the Eastern Hemisphere? 7.Place all eight cardinal and intermediate directions on a compass rose. 8.Which of the following cities is the capital of Jordan: Beirut, Damascus, Ankara, Amman? 1. What country has the largest land area in the Northern Hemisphere? 2. Which is more mountainous, northern or southern Eurasia? 3. Which continents does the Tropic of Capricorn pass through? 4. What two countries and one body of water border Uruguay? 5. What is the city, first started as a Spanish settlement in 1609, that is the capital of New Mexico? 6. Which South American countries does the Tropic of Capricorn pass through? 7.

An isthmus is a narrow strip of land located between two water bodies that connects two larger land areas. Find a Central American country that is an isthmus. 8. What countries surround Switzerland? 1. What is the state whose neighbors are Idaho, North and South Dakota, and Canada? 2. What ocean lies to the north of both Eurasia and North America? 3. Which African countries does the Equator pass through? 4. Which state has a longer border with Mexico, Texas or New Mexico? 5. Is most of Turkey located in Europe or Asia? 6. Baghdad is the capital of what Middle Eastern country? 7. A point of land extending into a body of water in called a(an) ____. 8. What is the capital of the nation that is located at the southern tip of Africa? Week 23 1. Three-fourths of an inch on a map equals 750 miles. What would on inch equal? 2. Land area that includes soil carried down-stream by a river and deposited at the river's mouth is called a ____. 3. Is the Equator a parallel or a meridian? 4.

The following are names of the five largest lakes in the world: (1) Caspian Sea (2) Superior (3) Victoria (4) Aral Sea (5) Huron. On what continent(s) are they located? 5. Who controls the Falkland Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean? 6. What five continents touch the Atlantic Ocean? 7. Which is larger, the Gulf of California or the Gulf of Mexico? 8. Which continent is closest to the South Pole? Week 24 1. In which direction does a parallel or line of latitude run? 2. One inch on a map represents 800 miles. It is 3 1/2 inches on the map from Cape Town, South Africa, to Nairobi, Kenya. How many miles is this? 3. What is the fourth largest island in the world, located off the southeastern coast of Africa? 4. Some map keys show land elevation using two measurements. What are these two measurements? 5. What continent is southeast of Eurasia? 6. In which direction would you travel by airplane to go from Sri Lanka to Myanmar? 7. Which countries (not including French Guiana, which is a colony) does Brazil border? 8.

A mountain range is a group of high elevations. Find three major mountains ranges and state what continents they belong. 1. Find the name of the gulf located just north of Libya's coast. 2. Does Uruguay border the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean? 3. What continent is southeast of the United States and across the Atlantic Ocean? 4. Which baseball team plays it's home games in a foreign country: Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees? 5. On what continent is China located? 6. What is the name of the long mountain range located on the Italian peninsula? 7. One inch on a map equals 300 miles. It is 3 1/4 inches from El Paso, Texas, to Bismarck, North Dakota. How many miles would this be? 8. Which country has a longer coastline, Cuba or Jamaica? top Week 26 1. The following five rivers are the longest in the world: (1) Nile (2) Amazon (3) Chang Jiang (Yangtze) (4) Ob-Irtysh (5) Huang He. To which continent does each belong? 2. What parallel divides the Earth into two equal parts? 3.

What does it mean when a map is drawn to scale? 4. Which South American country has the longest coastline along the Atlantic Ocean? 5. In what ocean is Japan located? 6. How many South American countries are located on or below the Equator? 7. Who owns the Azores Islands? 8. Which part of the United States has higher elevations, the southeast or the northwest? top Week 27 1. One inch on a map represents 200 miles. It is 1/2 inch from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Chicago, Illinois. How far would this be? 2. What is the northernmost state along the Atlantic Ocean coastline? 3. In what ocean do you find the Polynesian Islands? 4. What is another name for a line of longitude? 5. What sea touches the shores of England, Scotland, Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway? 6. What is the capital of Peru, a country where the Andes Mountains cover over 25% of the land? 7. Look at a map of the eastern coastline of the United States. In what state is Cape Hatteras located? 8. The northern part of Russia borders what ocean? 1. The West Indies are located in what sea?

2. Which Hawaiian Islands is the farthest south, Hawaii, Maui, or Oahu? 3. Which of the following professional teams play home games in cities located on an ocean: New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians? 4. Is the capital of Venezuela Cayenne or Caracas? 5. What sea lies between Australia and New Zealand? 6. Which ocean is the smallest? 7. Which line is farther north, the Tropic of Capricorn of the Tropic of Cancer? 8. The Nile River is 4,132 miles long. On what continent is it located? 1. The largest lake in South America is located in northern Venezuela. What is its name? 2. What two countries border the Gulf of Mexico? 3. What is the name of the peninsula in southeastern Mexico and what two bodies does it touch? 4. Which state extends farther north, Georgia or Texas? 5. In what country of Africa is the Nile River Delta located? 6. Which is farther south, the tip of Florida or the tip of Baja California? 7. Imagine you are in Chicago, Illinois, and want to travel to Point Barrow, Alaska. What direction will you need to travel to get there?

8. Can Australia be both east and west of South America? Explain your answer. 1. Would you be more likely to find reindeer near the Arctic or the Antarctic Circle? 2. Which is farther east, Newfoundland or Puerto Rico? 3. If you were traveling from Mexico to Colombia, in what direction would you be going? 4. What large lake is located high in the Andes Mountains between Peru and Bolivia? 5. What direction is India from Japan? 6. Which is farther, Los Angeles, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, or Los Angeles, California, to San Francisco, California? 7. In what state is the Mississippi River Delta located? 8. What country is both west and south of Canada? Week 33 1. What ocean touches the coasts of Africa, Eurasia, Australia, and Antarctica? 2. Find a large bay in Canada that is north of the Great Lakes. What is its name? 3. Is Iceland closer to the North Pole than New Zealand is to the South Pole? Explain your answer. 4. What sea is at the mouth of the Nile River in Africa? 5. Which is farther east, the east coast of the United States or the east coast of South America? 6.

What sea is located at the mouth of the Dnieper River in Ukraine? 7. What mountain range runs through western Canada, but not along the coast? 8. What ocean is at the mouth of the Amazon River? top Week 34 1. What strait, controlled by the United Kingdom, is close to the place where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean? 2. Look at a physical map of the United States. Which state contains more low land, Texas or Colorado? 3. What country is west of Alaska? 4. What is the name given to small rivers that flow into larger rivers? 5. What large bay separates Greenland from Baffin Island? 6. Traveling from San Diego, California, to Mexico City, Mexico, you would probably drive through mountains. Name them. 7. What is the latitude and longitude of New York City? 8. What is the name of the large river in southeast Africa that drains into the Mozambique Channel? What Is The Name Of The Only US State That Contains Only One Syllable? - The Pickering Post What is the name of the only US state that contains only one syllable?

Trader ..................Maine Sat 7 Jun 2014 06:53:56 am / Sun 8 Jun 2014 12:05:22 pm Mmm...what is it about Maine that makes it so important to important people...mmm... REPLY Sat 7 Jun 2014 01:24:35 pm I'm happy with Maine Trader Sat 7 Jun 2014 01:13:35 pm Just thinking ( a bit strange I know ) I wonder if Ohio is the shortest word with 3 syllables? 4 letters and 3 vowels as well. 1 REPLIES ▼ alphaDictionary * The Origins of US State Names Alabama Alabama was named after the Alabama River. The river was named for the Alabama Indians originally living in region of that river, a subgroup of the Chickasaws and not the current Alabamas.

The appellation first appeared in three accounts of the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1540, spelled Alibamo by Garcillasso de la Vega, Alibamu by the Knight of Elvas, and Limamu by Rodrigo Ranjel (in the last form, the loss of the initial vowel and the replacement of [b] by [m] were common in the language). It is possible that Alabama originated as a compound noun based on Choctaw, alba "vegetation, plants, herbs" + amo "gatherer, picker". "Plant gatherers" would be an apt description of the Alabama Indians of that time since they did clear land for farming. ( Reference ) Alaska Alaska came from an Aleut (Yupik) word alaxsxaq [ah-lock-shock] "the mainland, the land facing the sea". The Russians were the first Europeans in Alaska and they pronounced the word Alyaska. When the US purchased Alaska from the Russians the name was only slightly modified to what it is today. ( Reference ) Arizona Calling this state the "arid zona" is cute and semantically appropriate but it is only someone's idea of word play.

Arizona was inherited from the Spanish Arizonac, a word virtually identical to Basque arizonac "good oak". However, it isn't clear why the Spanish would choose a Basque word for (at the time) a Mexican territory and the semantic fit is weaker than that of arid zona. The name of this state is most probably a Native American word, possibly an O'odham (Pima) word meaning "having a little spring" made up of ali "little" + sona-g "spring-having"—plus a little corruption from the Spanish. (See Bright, William Native American Placenames of the United States, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004, p. 47.) Georgia This state was named in honor of King George II of England. Around 1730 James Oglethorpe formulated a plan to obtain the release of people from London's debtors' prison and to establish a new colony, south of Carolina, to be inhabited by the "worthy poor" of London.

In a Royal Charter signed June 20, 1732, King George II granted the right for the colony of Georgia and in February, 1733, a small group of settlers sailed up the Savannah River and established the colony. In gratitude to King George II the colony was named Georgia. ( Reference ) Hawaii The name of this archipelago state was taken from the largest island. Though Captain James Cook called the islands the Sandwich Islands in honor of the Earl of Sandwich in 1778, King Kamehameha I united the islands under his rule 1819 as the Kingdom of Hawaii. One theory of the origin of the name of the largest island is that it was an old compound noun based on the words hawa "homeland" and ii "small, active". The other theory is that the name comes from Hawaii Loa who, according to tradition, was the Polynesian who originally discovered them. Neither explanation is supported by evidence, however. ( Reference ) Idaho The claim that Idaho's name is the result of a hoax is itself a hoax ( click here ).

Idaho is an English corruption of the Kiowa-Apache word idaahe "enemy", a name the Kiowas applied to the Comanches when they migrated to southern Colorado and came in contact with them in territory the Comanches considered their own. The move led to war among the two tribes. This word is still found in the name of Idaho Springs, now in the Denver-Aurora metro area. It spread east to Ohio (Pike County) and other eastern states and was applied, for whatever reason, to Idaho when it was established as a territory on March 4, 1863. (See Bright, William Native American Placenames of the United States, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004, p. 177.) Indiana This state has one of the most obvious names in the US with the rather ironic meaning, "the land of Indians." It was given to the Indiana Territory by the United States Congress when Indiana was created from the Northwest Territory in 1800. Indiana joined the Union in 1816 as the 19th state. Iowa The state of Iowa was named for the Native Americans living in that territory at the time, the Iowas.

Despite the report of the 1879 General Assembly of Iowa, which proclaimed that this word means "the beautiful land", it is actually a Dakota Sioux word given to the Iowas in jest meaning "sleepy ones". The Iowas call themselves [bah-ko-jay] "the gray/ashy heads". According to tradition, this name came from an incident in their history when, while camping in the Iowa River valley, a gust of wind blew a cloud of sand and campfire ashes onto their heads. ( Reference ) Kansas This state was named after the Kansas River that flows through it. The river was named after the Kaw, an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The Kaw have also been known as the Kanza, a word some say means "Wind People". However, no evidence supports this claim. If it had any meaning other than to designate the Kanza people, it was probably "plum". ( Reference ) Kentucky The Kentucky Encyclopedia claims that the state of Kentucky was named for the Kentucky River, as in the case of several other states.

The origin of the river's name has never been definitively identified but there have been several suggestions, including an Iroquoian name meaning "place of meadows", an Algonquian term for a river bottom, or a Shawnee term for the head of a river. More likely, however, it comes from the Wyandot (Iroquoian) word kentahteh "tomorrow, the coming day", a word that originally applied to the Iroquoian possessions on the Ohio but later to the lands to the south of the Ohio. Those territories represented the land where they (the Wyandots) would live tomorrow, in the future." A good translation of the word as it came to apply to the country of Kentucky would then be "The Land of Tomorrow". ( Reference ) Louisiana The first permanent settlement in the Louisiana Territory was at Fort Maurepas (now Ocean Springs, Mississippi, near Biloxi), founded by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, a French military officer from Canada, in 1699. The French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle named the region Louisiana to honor France's King Louis XIV in 1682.

( Reference ) Maine No one has a clue about this one. The name first appears in writing in 1622 as a province, in a charter of the Council of New England granting land to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason. The portion which came to be Captain Mason's alone in 1629, he named New Hampshire. In the same year, a second charter labeled it Laconia. Gorges volleyed with yet another name for his territory: New Somerset. This was strongly disliked by King Charles; he responded in a 1639 charter that it "shall forever hereafter be called and named the Province or County of Mayne and not by any other name or names whatsoever". Despite the tone of finality, this still was not the last word: other suggestions were Yorkshire, Lygonia and Columbus, the latter two appearing as late as 1819, when statehood was imminent.

( Reference ) Maryland In 1629, George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore in the Irish House of Lords, applied to Charles I (1600-1649) for a new royal charter for what was to become the Province of Maryland, which was at the time the northern part of Virginia. George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland Colony" (in Latin "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Caecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, on June 20, 1632. The new colony was named in honor of Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), Queen Consort of Charles I. Three years earlier, Charles established the colony of Carolina . ( Reference 1 • Reference 2 ) Massachusetts The Massachusetts Bay Colony took its name from that of the indigenous Massachusett people. The colony's name probably started out as "the Massachusetts' Bay".

The name can be segmented (with English spelling) as mass-achu-s-et, comprising mass "big" + achu "hill" + s "small" (diminutive ending) -et, a locative suffix meaning "place of". It is generally taken as a reference to the Great Blue Hills, visible from the I-93 beltway south of Milton. The problem is that the usual word for "big" in Algonquian is miss, as in missegkon "big rain = hail" and missittspu "big =(heavy) frost", not mass (see also Mississippi and Missouri for other examples of miss "big, large"). Mass usually meant "arrowhead", so the hill was more probably named "Arrowhead Hill". ( Reference 1 • Reference 2 • Dr. Ives Goddard, Chief Linguist, The Smithsonian Institute (correspondence) Minnesota The word Minnesota comes from the Dakota name for the Minnesota River, mnisota, a compound noun made up of mni "water" + sota "cloudy, muddy".

Dakotas demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it, "mnisota." Since English does not allow words beginning with [mn], settlers inserted a vowel between these two sounds, producing mini which they wrote as "minne". Many locations in the state contain the Dakota word for water, such as Minnehaha Falls from mni + haha "falls", i.e. "Waterfall Falls" and not "laughing waters" as is commonly thought, Minneiska "white water", Minnetonka, "big water", Minnetrista "crooked water", and Minneapolis which is a combination of mni and Greek polis "city". ( Reference ) Mississippi Mississippi is named for the Mississippi river which forms its western boundary. When Abraham Lincoln wrote, "the Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea," in reference to the river in a letter of August 27, 1863, he promoted an urban myth that persists today. In fact, Mississippi never meant "Father of Waters". In 1666 French explorers in the Great Lakes region recorded the Ojibwa (Algonquian) name for the river as Messipi.

It was actually the phrase miss sepi "big river" (see also Massachusetts and Missouri for the word miss "big, large"). This name traveled down the length of the river, dominating all others. The French took the name with them as they went down Big River to its delta, and it superseded all the other names for Big River used by local Indian tribes and by earlier Spanish explorers. In 1798 Congress applied the Ojibwa name of the river to the territory of Mississippi, which later became the state. ( Reference ) Missouri Missouri took its name from the Missouri river. The river was named after a tribe of southern Sioux people called the Missouris, who lived along the river. The word missouri at one time meant "large canoe" and was applied both to the people and the place where they lived. (See also Massachusetts and Mississippi for the word miss "big, large".) ( Reference ) Montana The name of this Northwestern state is a variation of the Spanish word montaña "mountain". No one knows who first applied it or under what circumstances.

Subsequent to the Lewis and Clark expedition, Montana became a United States territory (Montana Territory) on May 26, 1864 and the 41st state on November 8, 1889. ( Reference ) Nebraska In 1842 Lieutenant John Fremont set out on an expedition mapping overland routes to the West. In the course of his expedition, he came in contact with the Oto (Missouri-Oto) people living along what is known today as the Platte River. The Otos called the river, according to Fremont, nebraska, which he took to mean "flat river" hence the river's current name. Fremont suggested this name for the territory and in 1844 the Secretary of War approved the name and this region became known as the Nebraska Country. ( Reference ) Nevada Although the name is derived from the Spanish word nevada "snowy, snow-covered", the local pronunciation of the state's name is not Spanish [neh-vah-dah], but good ol' American [nuh-vae-duh]. The name became official when President James Buchanan created the territory of Nevada March 2, 1861.

On October 31, 1864, President Lincoln proclaimed Nevada's admission to the Union as the 36th state. ( Reference ) New Jersey Sir John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret received a royal charter from King Charles II for a colony in the New World on June 24, 1664 and named this colony for the island of Jersey in the English Channel. Carteret had been born in Jersey and had spent several years as Lieutenant Governor of the island. Charles II also granted Pennsylvania to William Penn and New York to his cousin James II, the Duke of York. ( Reference ) New Mexico The region of New Mexico originally belonged to New Spain, as Mexico was called until Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821). It was first explored by Spaniard Francisco de Ibarra in 1562, who called the region Nueva Vizcaya "New Biscay". The name Mexico is a word based on the Nahuatl Mexihco, whose meaning is unclear. Juan de Oqate founded the San Juan colony on the Rio Grande in 1598 and was made the first governor of the new Province of New Mexico, then a part of Mexico.

The American government established the New Mexico Territory on September 9, 1850 after defeating Mexico in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 with Santa Fe ("Holy Faith") as its capital. ( Reference ) New York New York was named in honor of the Duke of York who received patent to New Netherland from his brother Charles II and sent an expedition to capture it in 1664. The English in the end traded what is today the country of Suriname for New Amsterdam that same year, renaming it New York after the Duke of York, soon to be King James II. Charles II also signed land grants for New Jersey and Pennsylvania . ( Reference ) North Carolina In 1629, King Charles I of England "erected into a province" all the land from Albemarle Sound on the north to the St. John's River on the south, which he directed should be called Carolina. The word Carolina is from the word Carolus, the Latin form of Charles. Charles I (1600-1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, from March 27, 1625 until his execution in 1649.

In 1632 he also established the colony of Maryland . There was one state of Carolina until 1729 when owners of the northern part of the territory sold their interests back to the King and North Carolina became a royal colony. ( Reference ) North Dakota North and South Dakota were one territory until 1889. Dakota was named for the Dakota, a Sioux people who lived in the region, featured in the motion picture, Dances with Wolves . Dakota is apparently a Sioux word for "friends" or "allies." ( Reference ) Ohio A widely held fallacy is that Ohio is an Iroquoian name meaning "beautiful river." This myth originated with a French traveler of about 1750 who called the Ohio "une belle riviere" and mentioned that the local native people called it Ohio. It does not follow, however, that the Frenchman's reaction was the meaning of the word Ohio. While the origin is still very cloudy, it would seem more likely that this word was a Wyandot (Iroquoian) word meaning "large, great" or, used alone, "the great one". This is based on missionary and Indian agent reports of the time.

( Reference ) Oklahoma Oklahoma became the 46th state in the Union on November 16th, 1907. The state's name was chosen by Allen Wright, chief of the Choctaw Nation from 1866 to 1870. Wright combined two Choctaw words, ukla "person" + huma "red" to form the word that first appears in a 1866 Choctaw treaty. So, Oklahoma means "red person", a more subtly ironical memorial to the people who originally lived there than Indiana . ( Reference ) Oregon The name of this state was first published by Jonathan Carver in 1778 in his book Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America. Carver took the name from the writings of Maj. Robert Rogers, an English army officer who used this proper noun in a 1765 petition to the Kingdom of Great Britain. The petition referred to Ouragon and asked for money to finance an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Where Rogers got the word remains a mystery.

The most plausible explanation is that it came from an engraver's error in naming the Ouisiconsink (Wisconsin River) on a French map published in the early 1700s. In a 2004 article for the Oregon Historical Quarterly, professor Thomas Love and Smithsonian linguist Ives Goddard argue that Rogers chose the word after exposure to either of the Algonquian words wauregan and olighin, both meaning "good and beautiful". Rogers is likely to have heard the terms because of his frequent encounters with Mohegans in the late 1750s. Other suggestions, such as an origin in French ouragan "hurricane" or Spanish oregano are pure speculations without any basis in fact. ( Reference ) Pennsylvania In 1681, Charles II of England granted a land charter to William Penn, due to the fact that a large debt was owed to William Penn's father, Admiral William Penn. one of the largest land grants to an individual in history. That land included both present-day Delaware and Pennsylvania.

The name Pennsylvania is a Latinized word made up of Penn + sylva "woods" + nia (noun suffix) or, roughly, "Penn's Woodland", named in honor of Admiral Penn. Charles II also signed land grants for New Jersey and New York . ( Reference ) Rhode Island The first mention of the name Rhode Island in connection with Narragansett Bay is in a letter of Giovanni da Verrazzano, the Italian explorer, dated July 8, 1524, in which he likens an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay to the Island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. Verrazzano probably referred to Block Island rather than to Aquidneck but this fact was not known in England, where the name made news long before the Pilgrims came to New England. Verrazzano's letter was printed in Italian in 1556 and in English in 1582 and 1600, so that it was accessible to the early settlers before they left England. ( Reference ) South Carolina In 1629, King Charles I of England "erected into a province," all the land from Albemarle Sound on the north to the St.

John's River on the south, which he directed should be called Carolina. The word Carolina is from Carolus, the Latin form of Charles. Charles I (1600-1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, from March 27, 1625 until his execution in 1649. In 1632 he also established the colony of Maryland . There was one state of Carolina until 1729 when owners of the northern part of the territory sold their interests back to the King and North Carolina became a royal colony. (See North Carolina .) South Dakota North and South Dakota were one territory until 1889. Dakota took its name from the Dakota (or Lakota), a Sioux people who lived in the region, featured in the motion picture, Dances with Wolves . Dakota is the Sioux word for "friends" or "allies." ( Reference ) Tennessee Tennessee comes from the name of a native American village named Tanasqui through which Captain Juan Pardo, the Spanish explorer, and his men passed in 1567 while traveling inland from South Carolina.

European settlers later encountered a Cherokee town named Tanasi in present-day Monroe County, Tennessee. It is not known whether this was the same town as the one encountered by Juan Pardo but one or both of these names were the predecessors of modern day Tennessee. Pardo said that the word had no meaning but was just a village name. ( Reference ) Utah This state's name comes from a Navajo word yuttahih "higher-ups, people who are higher". Europeans thought this term referred to a people who lived higher up in the White Mountains and when they did, in fact, encounter such a tribe, they called them "Utes". ( Reference ) Vermont Vermont was adopted as the official name of the state on June 30, 1777 as part of the first Vermont constitution. Dr. Thomas Young, a Pennsylvania statesman who suggested that the Pennsylvania constitution serve as a basis for Vermont's, proposed the name Vermont to perpetuate the memory of the Green Mountain Boys. This rebel group, led by Ethan Allen, were named for the long ridge of mountains running north-south through the state.

However, Vermont was first settled by the French and England gained control of the area only in 1763 after the French and Indian Wars, so the name probably originated with them. The problem with this assumption is that "green mountains" in French would be (les) monts verts not verts monts, so the phrase had been subjected to Anglicization. By whom? Probably the entire population. ( Reference ) Virginia At the end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603), who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married, gave the name Virginia to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America. The name eventually applied to the whole coast from South Carolina to Maine. ( Reference ) Washington On August 29, 1851, 27 male settlers met at Cowlitz Landing (south of present-day Olympia) to petition Congress for a Columbia Territory separate from Oregon covering the area between the Columbia River and 49th parallel. The petition was reaffirmed by 44 delegates who met in Monticello on November 25, 1852.

Congress approved the new territory on February 10, 1853, but changed its name to Washington in honor of the first president of the United States, George Washington. U.S. President Millard Fillmore established Washington Territory on March 2, 1853; Washington became a state on November 11, 1889. ( Reference ) West Virginia At the end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603), who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married, gave the name Virginia to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America. The name eventually applied to the whole coast from South Carolina to Maine. The regions making up what is now West Virginia seceded from the state of Virginia rather than join the Confederacy and became the 35th state of the U.S. during the course of the Civil War. ( Reference ) Wisconsin Wisconsin first appears in 1673 in Fr. Jacques Marquette's journal as Mescousing and Miskous, words he thought meant "red stone" in some Algonquian language.

Marquette picked this word up from the Mascouten (Miami, Kickapoo) people he had just visited. A related Algonquian people, the Mesquakie (or Fox), called themselves "Red Earth People" and may have applied the appellation to the nearby river. Modern linguists find that these primary sources do not accurately reflect what is known now about Algonquian languages and can find no word in any of those languages that resemble those in Marquette's journal. Marquette's Meskousing had become Ouisconsin by 1682 in the parlance of the explorer LaSalle and was spelled Wisconsin in the early nineteenth century after the U.S. took control of the region even though the territorial governor James Doty strongly preferred the spelling Wiskonsan. ( Reference ) Wyoming The name Wyoming was adopted from the Delaware (Lenape) word chwewamink: chw- "big" + eweam- "plains" -enk "place" = "at/on the big plains" and was first used to name the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, where the Lenapes lived. Congressman J. M.

Ashley of Ohio, introduced a bill in the House of Representatives in 1865 to provide a "temporary government for the territory of Wyoming," a name he apparently chose. The bill was referred to a committee where it rested until being passed in 1868. During debate on the bill in the U.S. Senate in 1868, other possible names were suggested, such as Cheyenne, Shoshoni, Arapaho, Sioux, Platte, Big Horn, Yellowstone, Sweetwater and Lincoln. Wyoming was already commonly used and remained the popular choice. ( Reference )

Question: What is the the only US state whose name contains only one syllable?
Answer: Maine