A former kingdom and province of northwest Germany. It was an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1692 to 1805. The kingdom lasted from 1815 to 1866, when Hanover became a province of Prussia (later Germany).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.