alaska
n. uncountablen. the largest state in the United States, located in the far northwest of North America. It is famous for its cold weather, mountains, and wild animals.
n. a non-contiguous U.S. state situated in the extreme northwest of the North American continent. Bordered by Canada to the east and the Arctic and Pacific Oceans to the north and south.
Many people travel to Alaska to see the northern lights.
During our cruise to Alaska, we saw massive glaciers and several humpback whales.
The purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 was initially mocked as a waste of money, though the territory later proved invaluable for its vast natural resources.
From Russian Аля́ска (Aljáska, “Alaska”), in turn from Aleut alaxsxaq (“a mainland”, literally “that toward which the action of the sea is directed”), composed of alag (“pertaining to the sea”) + -sxa (nominalizing suffix, yields 'the objective of action expressed by the root') + -q (nominalizing suffix). Commonly misattributed to Russian ала (ala) + -ский (-skij, adjectival suffix).
As a proper noun, it is always capitalized and typically used without an article.