Can·a·da (k n  -d) A country of northern North America. Originally inhabited by various Native American peoples, mainland Canada was explored by the English and the French beginning in the late 15th century. The French established the first permanent settlement at Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) in 1605 but gradually lost control of eastern Canada, which was ceded to England in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. The Dominion of Canada was formed in 1867 and extended to the western provinces in 1905; Newfoundland formally joined the federation in 1949. The Statute of Westminster (1931) confirmed Canada's status as an independent nation within the Commonwealth. Ottawa is the capital and Toronto the largest city. Population: 31,600,000. Ca·na di·an (k-n d -n) adj. & n.Word History: Linguistically, mountains can be made out of molehills, so to speak: words denoting a small thing can, over time, come to denote something much larger. This is the case with Canada, now the name of the second-largest country in the world but having a much humbler origin. Apparently its history starts with the word kanata, which in Huron (an Iroquoian language of eastern Canada) meant "village." Jacques Cartier, the early French explorer, picked up the word and used it to refer to the land around his settlement, now part of Quebec City. By the 18th century it referred to all of New France, which extended from the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes and down into what is now the American Midwest. In 1759, the British conquered New France and used the name Quebec for the colony north of the St. Lawrence River, and Canada for the rest of the territory. Eventually, as the territory increased in size and the present arrangement of the provinces developed, Canada applied to all the land north of the United States and east of Alaska. |   |
Canada [ˈkænədə]
n
(Placename) a country in North America: the second largest country in the world; first permanent settlements made by the French from 1605; ceded to Britain in 1763 after a series of colonial wars; established as the Dominion of Canada in 1867; a member of the Commonwealth. It consists generally of sparsely inhabited tundra regions, rich in natural resources, in the north, the Rocky Mountains in the west, the Canadian Shield in the east, and vast central prairies; the bulk of the population is concentrated along the US border and the Great Lakes in the south. Languages: English and French. Religion: Christian majority. Currency: Canadian dollar. Capital: Ottawa. Pop.: 31 081 900 (2001 est.). Area: 9 976 185 sq. km (3 851 809 sq. miles)
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  Canada - a nation in northern North America; the French were the first Europeans to settle in mainland Canada; "the border between the United States and Canada is the longest unguarded border in the world"British Commonwealth, Commonwealth of Nations - an association of nations consisting of the United Kingdom and several former British colonies that are now sovereign states but still pay allegiance to the British Crown NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization - an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security Canadian Security Intelligence Service, CSIS - Canada's main foreign intelligence agency that gathers and analyzes information to provide security intelligence for the Canadian government Communications Security Establishment, CSE - Canadian agency that gathers communications intelligence and assist law enforcement and security agencies CISC, Criminal Intelligence Services of Canada - an agency of the Canadian government that unifies the intelligence units of Canadian law enforcement agencies Department of Justice Canada, DoJC - an agency of the Canadian government that provides litigation and legal advice and opinions to the government Security Intelligence Review Committee, SIRC - an agency of the Canadian government that oversees the activities of the Criminal Intelligence Services of Canada and has the power to intrude on the privacy of suspected terrorists or spies Baffin Island - the 5th largest island and the largest island of Arctic Canada; lies between Greenland and Hudson Bay Canadian Shield, Laurentian Highlands, Laurentian Plateau - a large plateau that occupies more than 40% of the land area of Canada; it extends from the Great Lakes northward to the Arctic Ocean Canadian Maritime Provinces, Maritime Provinces, Maritimes - the collective name for the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Alberta - one of the three prairie provinces in western Canada; rich in oil and natural gas and minerals British Columbia - a province in western Canada Manitoba - one of the three prairie provinces in central Canada Newfoundland and Labrador - a Canadian province on the island of Newfoundland and on the mainland along the coast of the Labrador Sea; became Canada's 10th province in 1949 Northwest Territories - a large territory in northwestern Canada; part is now Nunavut Nunavut - an Arctic territory in northern Canada created in 1999 and governed solely by the Inuit; includes the eastern part of what was the Northwest Territories and most of the islands of the Arctic Archipelago; "Nunavut is the homeland of the Inuit people" Arctic Archipelago - all the islands that lie to the north of mainland Canada and the Arctic Circle Ontario - a prosperous and industrialized province in central Canada Toronto - the provincial capital and largest city in Ontario (and the largest city in Canada) Quebec - the largest province of Canada; a French colony from 1663 to 1759 when it was lost to the British Saskatchewan - one of the three prairie provinces in west central Canada; "vast fields of wheat grow on Saskatchewan's prairies" Yukon Territory, Yukon - a territory in northwestern Canada; site of the Klondike gold rush in the 1890s British Empire - a former empire consisting of Great Britain and all the territories under its control; reached its greatest extent at the end of World War I; it included the British Isles, British West Indies, Canada, British Guiana; British West Africa, British East Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand; "the sun never sets on the British Empire" Columbia, Columbia River - a North American river; rises in southwestern Canada and flows southward across Washington to form the border between Washington and Oregon before emptying into the Pacific; known for its salmon runs in the spring Great Lakes - a group of five large, interconnected lakes in central North America Hudson Bay - an inland sea in northern Canada Labrador Peninsula, Labrador-Ungava Peninsula - a peninsular region of eastern Canada between Hudson Bay and the Labrador Sea; contains most of Quebec and the mainland part of Newfoundland and Labrador Mackenzie River, Mackenzie - a Canadian river; flows into the Beaufort Sea Niagara River, Niagara - a river flowing from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario; forms boundary between Ontario and New York North America - a continent (the third largest) in the western hemisphere connected to South America by the Isthmus of Panama |
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