Nevada
/nəˈvædə/noun
A U.S. state in the western United States.
Did you know?Nevada comes from Spanish *nevada*, the feminine form of *nevado*, originally describing a snow-covered mountain range, so the state’s name is literally a weather spell from the Sierra Nevada.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sneygʷʰ-
“to snow”
Latin
Latin
nix, nivis
“snow”
Old Spanish
Old Spanish
nevar
“to snow”
Spanish
Spanish
nevado / nevada
“snow-covered; snow-covered female form”
18th Century
Spanish/English
Sierra Nevada
“snowy mountain range”
19th Century
English
Nevada
“name adopted for the U.S. state from the mountain range”