Van Rensselaer: Meaning and Definition of

Van Rens•se•laer

Pronunciation: (van ren"su-lēr', ren'su-lur for 1 also Du. vän ren'su-lär"), [key]
  1. 1595–1644, Dutch merchant: founder of Dutch West India Company 1621; large landowner in America, colonizing along the Hudson River (ancestor of Stephen Van Rensselaer).
  2. (“the Patroon”), 1765–1839, U.S. political leader and major general.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.