Columbia

C3O1L1U1M3B3I1A1
/kəˈlʌm.bi.ə/

proper noun

America; the United States; an appellation given in honor of Christopher Columbus.

Very commonScrabble 14

Meanings

proper noun
  1. poeticAmerica; the United States; an appellation given in honor of Christopher Columbus.
  2. datedA female personification of the United States.
  3. A river in British Columbia, Canada and in Washington and Oregon, United States, flowing from the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific Ocean.
  4. District of Columbia. The federal capital region of the United States of America, including Washington, D.C.
  5. Several places in the United States.
    1. A census-designated place and planned community in Howard County, Maryland.
    2. A city, the county seat of Marion County, Mississippi, named for the city in South Carolina.
    3. A number of townships, listed under Columbia Township.
  6. Columbia University.

    Dr. [Carl] Hart, 54, the first tenured African-American science professor at Columbia, is a gadfly among drug researchers and a rock star among advocates for decriminalizing drugs.

    2021 April 10, John Leland, “This heroin-using professor wants to change how we think about drugs”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 May 2022
  7. Columbia Pictures, a major American film production corporation
  8. Space Shuttle Columbia, named after the Columbia Rediviva ship.
  9. geographyA supercontinent thought to have existed in the Paleoproterozoic.

    Synonyms: Hudsonland, Nuna

  10. A rural locality in northeast Queensland, Australia.
  11. obsoleteObsolete form of Colombia.
nounColumbia (plural Columbias)

plural Columbias

  1. A breed of sheep developed in the United States.

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounThe capital city of South Carolina, and the county seat of Richland County.

proper nounA supercontinent thought to have existed in the Paleoproterozoic.

Origin

From Columbus + -ia, the Latinized name of the European explorer, Christopher Columbus. Piecewise doublet of Colombia.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic كُولُومْبِيَا, كُولُومْبِيَا
  • كُولُومْبِيَا (kulumbiyā)poetic: America
  • كُولُومْبِيَا (kulumbiyā)female personification of the USA
Chinese Mandarin 哥倫比亞 /哥伦比亚, 哥倫比亞 /哥伦比亚
  • 哥倫比亞 /哥伦比亚 (Gēlúnbǐyà)poetic: America
  • 哥倫比亞 /哥伦比亚 (Gēlúnbǐyà)female personification of the USA
Dutch Columbia, Columbia
  • Columbiapoetic: America
  • Columbiafemale personification of the USA
  • Colombiafemale personification of the USA
  • Colombiëfemale personification of the USA
Finnish Kolumbia, Kolumbia
  • Kolumbiapoetic: America
  • Kolumbiafemale personification of the USA
Hindi कोलम्बिया, कोलम्बिया
  • कोलम्बिया (kolambiyā)poetic: America
  • कोलम्बिया (kolambiyā)female personification of the USA
Italian America, Columbia
  • Americapoetic: America
  • Columbiapoetic: America
Japanese コロンビア, コロンビア
  • コロンビア (Koronbia)poetic: America
  • コロンビア (Koronbia)female personification of the USA
Korean 콜럼비아
  • 콜럼비아 (Kolleombia)poetic: America
Russian Колу́мбия, Колу́мбия
  • Колу́мбия (Kolúmbija)poetic: America
  • Колу́мбия (Kolúmbija)female personification of the USA
Swedish Columbia
  • Columbiafemale personification of the USA

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

Cite this entry
APA

Columbia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Columbia

MLA

“Columbia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Columbia. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Columbia,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Columbia.

Source: Columbia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.