New York Abbr. NY or N.Y.1. A state of the northeast United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies, it was explored by Samuel de Champlain and Henry Hudson and claimed by the Dutch in 1624 but fell to the English in 1664-1667. New York ratified the United States Constitution in 1788. The building of the Erie Canal and railroad lines in the 1820s and 1830s led to development of the western part of the state and great economic prosperity, establishing New York City as the financial center of the nation. Albany is the capital and New York City the largest city.2. or New York City A city of southern New York on New York Bay at the mouth of the Hudson River. Founded by the Dutch as New Amsterdam, it was renamed by the English in honor of the Duke of York. It is the largest city in the country and a major commercial and cultural center. Originally consisting only of Manhattan Island, it was rechartered in 1898 to include the five present-day boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.New York?er n.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.New York n 1. (Placename) Also called: New York City a city in SE New York State, at the mouth of the Hudson River: the largest city and chief port of the US; settled by the Dutch as New Amsterdam in 1624 and captured by the British in 1664, when it was named New York; consists of five boroughs (Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, which was called Richmond until 1975) and many smaller islands, with its commercial and financial centre in Manhattan; the country’s leading commercial and industrial city. Pop: 8 085 742 (2003 est). Abbreviation: N.Y.C. or NYC 2. (Placename) a state of the northeastern US: consists chiefly of a plateau with the Finger Lakes in the centre, the Adirondack Mountains in the northeast, the Catskill Mountains in the southeast, and Niagara Falls in the west. Capital: Albany. Pop: 19 190 115 (2003 est). Area: 123 882 sq km (47 831 sq miles). Abbreviation: N.Y. or NY (with zip code) Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014New` York? n. 1. Also called New? York` State?. a state in the NE United States. 18,976,457; 49,576 sq. mi. (128,400 sq. km). Cap.: Albany. Abbr.: NY, N.Y. 2. Also called New? York` Cit?y. a seaport in SE New York at the mouth of the Hudson: comprising the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. 7,380,906. 3. Greater, New York City, the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, and Westchester in New York, and the counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, and Union in New Jersey: the metropolitan area as defined by the U.S. census. 17,412,652. 4. the borough of Manhattan. New` York?er, n. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.