English

Alternative forms

• USONA, USONA

Proper noun

Usona

1. (obsolete) The United States of America.
   • 1899 August 3, “German letter (Chemnitz, July 15, 1899)”, in American Wool and Cotton Reporter, volume 13, page 924 [24]:

     Usona (U. S. of A.), a land that looked like a lost land to us two years ago, was our biggest buyer, says a local expert.

   • 1905 July 15, “The New U.S. Pharmacopœia”, in The Pharmaceutical Journal, London, page 70:

     Everything of value recording during recent years by British pharmacists has been incorporated in the monographs, and it is interesting to notice how freely the pages of our own only commentary on the British Pharmacopœia—'Pharmacopedia,' to wit—have been drawn upon for information. But this was only to be expected, since our brethren in Usona are nothing if not careful and judicious compilers. Much original work has doubtless been done by American pharmacists engaged in the production of the new national medicine-book, but the volume is, nevertheless, best described as an excellent compilation.

Derived terms

Usage notes

Several authors at the turn of the 20th Century advocate this as a word that should be used, however it did not gain wide acceptance.

• “the natural impatience of a citizen of the United States at the idea of the word American referring to any one except himself and his fellow citizens choked off any chance of life the expression [Usona] might have had at that time.” (
  1907, “The Gateway”, in (Please provide the title of the work), page 25):

There was, however, the Usona Zinc Mining Co. of Kansas City in 1899,^[2] and a yacht out of Boston by that name in 1900.^[3] The Goodwin Pottery Co. produced a line called "Usona" from c. 1905 to c. 1912,^[4] and there were other brands, hotels, and companies of that name around the same time [Usona Mfg. Co (Aurora), Usona Films Co (Glendale), the Usona-Brazil Co (NY), etc.].^[5] A small community founded in 1913 near Mariposa, California, is named Usona, from the same acronym.^[1] A US steamship named the Usona carried troops during World War I and sank in 1917.^[6] A famous hotel in Fulton, Kentucky, was renamed the USONA in 1913, and kept that name at least into the 1930s.^[7] A company called Usona Bio-Chem Labs was in business in 1963,^[8] and a Usona Co. in 1974,^[9] but more recent use of the name may be a back-formation of the architectural term Usonian.^[10] Perhaps the greatest acceptance of the term, however, came from speakers of the international language Esperanto, where "Usono" is the word for the United States. (All Esperanto nouns must by rule end in "o", hence the change from "Usona" to "Usono.")

References

1. 1 2 Erwin Gudde & William Bright, 2004. California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names
2. ↑ 'The "Usona" Zinc Mining Company is the name of a Kansas City corporation, ... The word "Usona" was the name suggested ... to more properly designate our national territory as the "United States of North America."' (The Age of Steel, vol. 86, no. 17, p. 14, 1899 Oct 21)
3. ↑ Forest and Stream, vol. 55, p. 52, July 21, 1900
4. ↑ Jeanie Wilby, 2003. Decorative American pottery & whiteware, p. 88ff
5. ↑ A number are listed in Polk's New York copartnership and corporation directory of 1915.
6. ↑ "and then Smith transferred to the American steamship Usona, the name being formed from the initials of the United States of North America." ("Seattle engineer back from war front", in The American marine engineer, 1917, Elliott Pink (HR @ Excel Temporary Service)1924, In St. Louis, Missouri, there was a USONA Manufacturing company that manufactured bronze and aluminum handrails, as well as various metal products and services. Founded by Fred Lanz Sr., and run by George Pink (CEO/President), they stayed in business until 1984. vol. 12 , p. 15
7. ↑ Elizabeth Jones, 2005. Fulton. The name was capitalized as an acronym.
8. ↑ Industrial research, vol. 5
9. ↑ Sandy Eccli, 1974. Alternative sources of energy: practical technology and philosophy for a decentralized society, p. 94.
10. ↑ Travel & leisure, 2002, vol. 32, p. 200

Esperanto

Alternative forms

• usona

Etymology

Usono +‎ -a

Adjective

Usona ‎(accusative singular Usonan, plural Usonaj, accusative plural Usonajn)

1. of the United States of America
   • 1908, August, “Filipina Esperantisto”, in (Please provide the title of the work), page 13 of vol II, no 1(13):

     Usona submarŝipo “Shark” enakviganta en la golfeto de Manila, F. I., apud Cavite, la 9^an de Julio, 1908^a, de la flanko de la Usona vaporŝipo “Caesar” kiu ĝin alportis de Usono.

Esperanto

usona flago

Alternative forms

• Usona

Adjective

usona ‎(accusative singular usonan, plural usonaj, accusative plural usonajn)

1. of or pertaining to the United States of America, US American
   • 1908, August, “Filipina Esperantisto”, in (Please provide the title of the work), page 13 of vol II, no 1(13):

     Usona submarŝipo “Shark” enakviganta en la golfeto de Manila, F. I., apud Cavite, la 9^an de Julio, 1908^a, de la flanko de la Usona vaporŝipo “Caesar” kiu ĝin alportis de Usono.

Derived terms

• usoneco

Related terms

• usonano ‎(“person from the USA, a Usonian”)
• Usono ‎(“the United States of America”)

See also

• amerika ‎(“of the continent of America”)