Vancouver

V4A1N1C3O1U1V4E1R1
/vænˈkuː.vɚ//væŋˈkuː.vɚ/

proper noun

A surname.

CommonScrabble 17

Meanings

proper nounVancouver (countable and uncountable, plural Vancouvers)

plural Vancouvers

  1. countableuncountableA surname.
  2. countableuncountableA seaport, the largest city in British Columbia, Canada.

    PS: The average commute time in the freewayless City of Vancouver is 27 minutes, while outside of the City of Vancouver the average commute time is 31 minutes.

    2012 July 12, Nathan Pachal, “TomTom Congestion Index Useless for Metro Vancouver”, in The South Fraser Blog, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2025
  3. countableuncountableA large island of British Columbia, Canada.
  4. countableuncountableA river in southern British Columbia, Canada.
  5. countableuncountableA mountain between Alaska, United States and Yukon, Canada in the Saint Elias Mountains.
  6. countableuncountableA mountain straddling the Canterbury and the West Coast regions in the Southern Alps, on the South Island, New Zealand.
  7. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Clark County, Washington, United States.

    Washington’s first outpost of the California-born burger joint opened Wednesday after long anticipation and a few fake-outs (like the prank sign someone posted in Wallingford in June). Problem is, it’s located in Ridgefield, a suburb of Vancouver, Washington. […] Ridgefield is the 424th location.

    2025 August 21, Allison Williams, “I Braved Washington’s First In-N-Out Burger Line”, in Seattle Met, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2025
  8. countableuncountableA lake in Clark County, Washington, United States.
  9. attributivecountableuncountableThe Vancouver system of reference citation.

    The different fields in the 'style' file include the format of the in-text citations (Vancouver or Harvard style) […]

    2019, G. Jagadeesh, Biomedical Research, page 485

    Synonyms: Hollywood North, Hongcouver, Lotusland, No Fun City, Raincouver, Vangroovy

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounThe Vancouver system of reference citation.

Also see

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂pó
  4. Proto-Germanic*fanē
  5. Proto-West Germanic*fanā
  6. Old Dutchfan
  7. Middle Dutchvan
  8. Dutchvan
  9. Proto-Indo-European*gʷṓws
  10. Proto-Germanic*kōz
  11. Proto-West Germanic*kō
  12. Old Dutchcuo
  13. Middle Dutchcoe
  14. Dutchkoe
  15. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  16. Proto-Indo-European*pértus
  17. Proto-Germanic*furduz
  18. Proto-West Germanic*furdu
  19. Old Dutch*furt
  20. Middle Dutchvort
  21. Dutchvoorde
  22. DutchCoevorden
  23. Dutchvan Coevorden
  24. EnglishVancouver

The family name is from the Dutch place name Coevorden (“the place where cows ford the river”) via the Dutch family name van Coevorden (“a person from Coevorden”). The place names are derived from the family name, being named after George Vancouver, an English explorer who charted the northwestern Pacific coast of North America in a 1791–1794 expedition.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic فَانْكُوفَر
  • فَانْكُوفَر (fānkūfar)city
Bengali ভ্যানকুভার
  • ভ্যানকুভার (bhênkubhar)city
Bulgarian Ванку́вър
  • Ванку́вър (Vankúvăr)city
Chinese Cantonese 溫哥華 /温哥华
  • 溫哥華 /温哥华city
Chinese Mandarin 溫哥華 /温哥华
  • 溫哥華 /温哥华 (Wēngēhuá)city
Czech Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Danish Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Dutch Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Esperanto Vankuvero
  • Vankuverocity
Estonian Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Finnish Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
French Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
German Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Greek Βανκούβερ, Βανκουβέριο
  • Βανκούβερ (Vankoúver)city
  • Βανκουβέριο (Vankouvério)city
Hebrew וַנְקוּבֶר
  • וַנְקוּבֶר (vankuver)city
Hindi वैंकूवर
  • वैंकूवर (va͠ikūvar)city
Hungarian Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Irish Vancúbhar
  • Vancúbharcity
Japanese ヴァンクーヴァー, バンクーバー
  • ヴァンクーヴァー (Vankūvā)city
  • バンクーバー (Bankūbā)city
Korean 밴쿠버
  • 밴쿠버 (baenkubeo)city
Latin Vancuverium
  • Vancuveriumcity
Latvian Vankūvera
  • Vankūveracity
Lithuanian Vankuveris
  • Vankuveriscity
Norwegian Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Persian ونکوور
  • ونکوور (vankuver)city
Polish Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Portuguese Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Punjabi ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ
  • ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ (vainkūvar)city
Romanian Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Russian Ванку́вер
  • Ванку́вер (Vankúver)city
Spanish Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Swedish Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Tamil வான்கூவர்
  • வான்கூவர் (vāṉkūvar)city
Thai แวนคูเวอร์
  • แวนคูเวอร์ (wɛɛn-kuu-wə̂ə)city
Turkish Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity
Ukrainian Ванку́вер
  • Ванку́вер (Vankúver)city
Urdu وینْکُووَر
  • وینْکُووَر (venkūvar)city
Vietnamese Vancouver
  • Vancouvercity

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Vancouver

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

Vancouver. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vancouver

MLA

“Vancouver.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vancouver. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Vancouver,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vancouver.

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