Illinois

¹ American  

[il-uh-noi, -noiz] / ˌɪl əˈnɔɪ, -ˈnɔɪz /

noun

plural

Illinois

1. a member of a confederacy of North American Indians of Algonquian stock, formerly occupying Illinois and adjoining regions westward.

2. the Algonquian language of the Illinois and Miami Indians.

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Illinois ² American  

[il-uh-noi, -noiz] / ˌɪl əˈnɔɪ, -ˈnɔɪz /

noun

1. a state in the central United States: a part of the Midwest. 56,400 sq. mi. (146,075 sq. km). Springfield. IL (for use with zip code), Ill.

2. a river flowing southwest from northeastern Illinois to the Mississippi River: connected by a canal with Lake Michigan. 273 miles (440 km) long.

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Illinois British  

/ ˌɪlɪˈnɔɪ /

noun

1. Abbreviation: Ill..   IL.  a state of the N central US, in the Midwest: consists of level prairie crossed by the Illinois and Kaskaskia Rivers; mainly agricultural. Capital: Springfield. Pop: 12 653 544 (2003 est). Area: 144 858 sq km (55 930 sq miles)

2. a river in Illinois, flowing SW to the Mississippi. Length: 439 km (273 miles)

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Illinois Cultural  

1. State in the north-central United States bordered on the north by Wisconsin, the east by Indiana, the south by Kentucky, and the west by Missouri and Iowa. Its capital is Springfield, and its largest city is Chicago.

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Pronunciation

The pronunciation of Illinois with a final , which occurs chiefly among less educated speakers, is least common in Illinois itself, increasing in frequency as distance from the state increases.

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Known as the “Land of Lincoln” because Abraham Lincoln began his political career there.

Etymology

Origin of Illinois

1715–25, < French, earlier Eriniouai, Ilinoués, etc., from an unidentified Algonquian language, apparently literally, “one who sounds normal” (i.e., “a person who speaks an Algonquian language”), equivalent to the (unattested) Proto-Algonquian elements elen- “ordinary” + -we “make sound”

Example Sentences

Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Illinois also rank among the bottom five on the index.

From Los Angeles Times

This flu season, four children have died in Massachusetts, and Illinois reported its first pediatric death so far.

From Salon

In August, the company moved to sell its four local television stations in Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio to Gray Media Inc.

From MarketWatch

In letters from Administration for Children and Families, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, Minnesota, Colorado, California, Illinois and New York will lose access to three major childcare funds.

From Salon

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have now created a powerful new system that makes this possible.

From Science Daily