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Origin and history of Canada

Canada

1560s (implied in Canadian), said to be a Latinized form of a word for "village" in an Iroquoian language of the St. Lawrence valley that had gone extinct by 1600. Most still-spoken Iroquoian languages have a similar word (such as Mohawk kana:ta "town").

In early 18c. Canada meant French Canada, Quebec. The British colonies (including the American colonies) were British America. After 1791 the remainder of British America was Upper Canada (the English part), Lower Canada (the French part), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and, separately, Newfoundland. An act of Parliament in 1840 merged Upper and Lower Canada, and in 1867 the Dominion of Canada was created from the British colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada goose is attested from 1772.

also from 1560s

Entries linking to Canada

Canadian(adj.)

"pertaining to Canada," 1560s; see Canada. Also as a noun, "native or inhabitant of Canada" (1759).

canola(n.)

"rapeseed," a euphemistic name coined 1978, supposedly involving Canada, where it was developed, and the root of oil (n.). For the older name see rape (n.2).

Canuck(n.)

U.S. word for "a Canadian," especially a French-Canadian, 1835, perhaps a cross between Canada and Chinook, the native people in the Columbia River region. Often, but not always, more or less slighting. As an adjective from 1853. The NHL team in Vancouver joined the league in 1970; the name had been used by a minor league franchise there from 1945.

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    Athabaskan
    name, from the name of the widespread family of North American Indian languages, from Lake Athabaska in northern Alberta, Canada...The languages are spoken across a wide area of Alaska and sub-arctic Canada and include Apachean (including Navajo) in the...
    burglarize
    Damned as an American barbarism in England and Canada. Related: Burglarized; burglarizing....[Upper Canada Law Journal, September 1865, p.228] Burglarize, to, a term creeping into journalism....
    Regina
    The capital city of Saskatchewan was named 1882 by the then-governor general of Canada, Marquess of Lorne, in honor of Queen...
    quint
    ; British English prefers quin); used originally of the Dionne quintuplets, born May 28, 1934, near Callander, Ontario, Canada...
    maritime
    Maritimes "seacoast regions of a country" is from 1590s; specifically of the southeasternmost provinces of Canada adjoining...
    township
    each with a village or small town and its own church" is from 1530s; as a local municipal division of a county in U.S. and Canada...
    lacrosse
    Modern form and rules of the game were laid down 1860 in Canada....
    oration
    late 14c., oracioun, "a prayer," from Late Latin orationem (nominative oratio) "a speaking, speech, discourse; language, faculty of speech, mode of expressing; prayer," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin ōrare "to pray to, plead, speak before an assembly" (see orat
    Columbia
    poetic name for United States of America, earlier for the British colonies there, 1730s, also the nation's female personification, from name of Christopher Columbus (also see Colombia) with Latin "country" ending -ia. A popular name for places and institutions in the U.S. in the
    Thursday
    fifth day of the week, Old English þurresdæg, a contraction (perhaps influenced by Old Norse þorsdagr) of þunresdæg, literally "Thor's day," from Þunre, genitive of Þunor "Thor" (see thunder (n.)); from Proto-Germanic *thonaras daga (source also of Old Frisian thunresdei, Middle

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