U.S. state (organized as a territory 1861, admitted as a state 1876), named for the river, Spanish Rio Colorado, from colorado "ruddy, reddish," literally "colored," past participle of colorar "to color, dye, paint," from Latin colorare (see coloration).
State in the west-central United States in the Rocky Mountains, bordered by Wyoming and Nebraska to the north, Nebraska and Kansas to the east, Oklahoma and New Mexico to the south, and Utah to the west. Its capital and largest city is Denver.