Illinois

¹

[il-uh-noi, -noiz]

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.

Illinois

²

[il-uh-noi, -noiz]

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.

Illinois

/ 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)

Illinois

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.

Pronunciation Note

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.

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Illinois¹

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”