An island of the West Indies. Its capital is St. George's. It was discovered in 1498 by Columbus who called it Concepcion. It was held at different times by the French and the British during the 18th century. The British suppressed a native uprising in 1795. It was an associate state of Great Britain 1967-74 but became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth in 1974. The original name referred to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception but it was later renamed for the Spanish kingdom of Granada. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p467 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p219).