text: some states were known as "commonwealths." what is the definition, and why is the term still sometimes used?   definitions of commonwealth on the web:  the official name of some states in the united states (massachusetts and pennsylvania and virginia and kentucky) and associated territories (puerto rico)  state: a politically organized body of people under a single government; "the state has elected a new president"; "african nations"; "students who had come to the nation's capitol"; "the country's largest manufacturer"; "an industrialized land"  a world organization of autonomous states that are united in allegiance to a central power but are not subordinate to it or to one another  democracy: a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn  the english noun commonwealth dates originally from the fifteenth century and in different contexts indicates one of:# a nation, state or political unit# a state founded on law by agreement of the people for the common good# a republic# a federated union of constituent states.  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/commonwealth  in the terminology of the united states insular areas, a commonwealth is an organized territory that has established with the federal government a more highly developed relationship, usually embodied in a written mutual agreement.  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/commonwealth_(u.s._insular_area)  an association of the united kingdom and other sovereign countries that are former british territories or protectorates (see commonwealth secretariat, listed in part 3) www.interenvironment.org/wd1intro/glossary.htm  the commonwealth of pennsylvania; members.aol.com/rulespa/c.076.html  informal association of the countries that once formed the british empire. jonathan.rawle.org/hyperpedia/uk.php  a political unit like the body politic or people of a nation, state, etc. a nation or state with a representative form of government in which supreme authority is vested in the people. a republic. a group of sovereign states and their dependencies linked by common objectives and formally associated by compact as the commonwealth of nations (below). an association of former colonies, eg. commonwealth of australia. loosely, any state of usa. ... www.embassy.org.nz/encycl/c4encyc.htm