New Mexico
UK/njuː mɛk.sɪ.kəʊ//nu ˈmɛk.sɪ.koʊ/
New Mexico proper noun: a state in the southwestern United States. Capital: Santa Fe. Largest city: Albuquerque.
Proper noun
New Mexico
- A state in the southwestern United States. Capital: Santa Fe. Largest city: Albuquerque.
- On the invitation list: Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Tim Walz of Minnesota, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Wes Moore of Maryland and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico.2024 February 7, Edward-Isaac Dovere, “Harris set to host Democratic governors this weekend to discuss 2024 campaign”, in CNN
- A former provincial kingdom in New Spain.
- A former territory of Mexico.
- A former transitional government in the United States.
- A former territory of the United States.
- New Mexico cuisine or food.
- New Mexico music genre.
- An unincorporated community in Carroll County, Maryland, named for the state.
- A locality in the Tamworth council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.
New Mexico meaning in Hindi, Bengali, Arabic and Persian
New Mexico in Hindi
- US State
- नया मेक्सिको nayā meksiko, न्यू मेक्सिको nyū meksiko
New Mexico in Bengali
- US State
- নিউ মেক্সিকো niu mekśikō
New Mexico in Arabic
- US State
- نْيُومَكْسِيكُو nyumaksikū, الْمَكْسِيك الْجَدِيد al-maksīk al-jadīd
New Mexico in Persian
- US State
- نیومکزیکو
More languagesFewer languages
- New Mexico in Thai
- นิวเม็กซิโก niu-mék-sí-goo
Origin of New Mexico
New Mexico received its name in the 1500s, long before the present-day nation of Mexico won independence from Spain and adopted that name in 1821. Though the name “Mexico” itself derives from Nahuatl, and in that language it originally referred to the heartland of the Empire of the Mexicas (Aztec Empire) in the Valley of Mexico far from the area of New Mexico, Spanish explorers also used the term “Mexico” to name the region of New Mexico (Nuevo México in Spanish) in 1563. In 1581, the Chamuscado and Rodríguez Expedition named the region north of the Rio Grande “San Felipe del Nuevo México” (“Saint Philip of New Mexico”). The Spaniards had hoped to find wealthy indigenous Mexica (Aztec) cultures there similar to those of the Aztec (Mexica) Empire of the Valley of Mexico. The indigenous cultures of New Mexico, however, proved to be unrelated to the Mexicas, and they were not wealthy, but the name persisted. Before statehood, the name “New Mexico” was applied to various configurations of the U.S. territory, to a Mexican state, and to a province of New Spain, all in the same general area, but of varying extensions.
Words formed from New Mexico
Questions about New Mexico
- What does New Mexico mean?
- New Mexico means a state in the southwestern United States. Capital: Santa Fe. Largest city: Albuquerque.
- What is New Mexico in Hindi?
- New Mexico in Hindi is नया मेक्सिको (nayā meksiko), न्यू मेक्सिको (nyū meksiko). See New Mexico meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is New Mexico?
- New Mexico is a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce New Mexico?
- New Mexico is pronounced /njuː mɛk.sɪ.kəʊ/ (UK).
Words near New Mexico in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: New Mexico (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-New Mexico.ogg.
Cite this entry: “New Mexico.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/new_mexico. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.