Colorado

The word “Colorado” means a state in the western United States, known for the Rocky Mountains; its capital is Denver. In plain terms, most often the US state, but also a term for a medium-toned cigar wrapper.

“Colorado” is pronounced ko-luh-RAH-doh (/kɑləˈɹɑdoʊ/ in IPA).

Here is “Colorado” used in a sentence: “They spent the summer skiing and hiking in Colorado.”

Depending on how it is used, “Colorado” can be a name and a noun.

The word “Colorado” comes from Spanish. From Spanish colorado, meaning "reddish" or "colored," originally describing the reddish, silt-heavy water of the Colorado River.

“Colorado” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Colorado” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a state in the western United States, known for the Rocky Mountains; its capital is Denver.

The capital of Colorado is Denver, nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is almost exactly one mile, or 5,280 feet, above sea level. Denver is also the state's largest city and its main economic and cultural hub, sitting where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains.

Colorado is best known for the Rocky Mountains, which run through the state and draw visitors for skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and climbing. It is famous for its outdoor lifestyle, national parks, and high peaks, more than fifty of which rise above 14,000 feet, as well as cities like Denver and Boulder.

Colorado comes from Spanish and means coloured red or reddish. Spanish explorers gave the name to the Colorado River, whose waters ran red with silt and sandstone sediment. The state, which the river's headwaters cross, later took its name from that same word describing the ruddy landscape.

Colorado earned the nickname the Centennial State because it joined the United States in 1876, exactly one hundred years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Its admission as the 38th state coincided with the nation's centennial, and the name has stuck ever since.