New Mexico
Meanings
- A state in the southwestern United States. Capital: Santa Fe. Largest city: Albuquerque.
- 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.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
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.