Mississippi
[mis-uh-sip-ee]
- a state in the S United States. 47,716 sq. mi. (123,585 sq. km). Capital: Jackson. Abbreviation: MS (for use with zip code), Miss.
- a river flowing S from N Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico: the principal river of the U.S. 2470 miles (3975 km) long; from the headwaters of the Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico 3988 miles (6418 km) long.
Show More
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mississippi
Contemporary Examples
Saved from the public gallows, Weeks was virtually exiled from the city, and wound up in Mississippi, where he raised a family.
Even other men of color considered Revels a curious figure, for Mississippi had never had a large free black population.
As zealots poured in from Arkansas and Mississippi, a wire service reporter got punched in the ribs.
No—the way the Democratic Party can best help the poor people of Mississippi is to control Congress and the White House.
Phyllis, who was a nurse, went down to Mississippi to provide medical care for people like Joan.
Eric Garner Protests: ‘It’s Like Vietnam’Abby Haglage, Caitlin Dickson, Jacob Siegel, Chris Allbritton
December 5, 2014
Historical Examples
A territory bounded by the Mississippi has been extended from sea to sea.
Mississippi was disloyal, and didn't deserve to have any representative.
So this was Bellevue, one of the great cotton plantations of Mississippi.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
He felt that only the Mississippi, that life-line connecting him with the North, could save him.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
It was applied to the cable across the Mississippi, at St. Louis, in 1850.
Cleveland Past and PresentMaurice Joblin
Mississippi
- a state of the southeastern US, on the Gulf of Mexico: consists of a largely forested undulating plain, with swampy regions in the northwest and on the coast, the Mississippi River forming the W border; cotton, rice, and oil. Capital: Jackson. Pop: 2 881 281 (2003 est). Area: 122 496 sq km (47 296 sq miles)Abbreviation: Miss, (with zip code) MS
- a river in the central US, rising in NW Minnesota and flowing generally south to the Gulf of Mexico through several mouths, known as the Passes: the second longest river in North America (after its tributary, the Missouri), with the third largest drainage basin in the world (after the Amazon and the Congo). Length: 3780 km (2348 miles)
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for mississippi
Mississippi
originally as the name of the river, from French, from Algonquian (French missionaries first penetrated the river valley in its upper reaches), literally "big river;" cf. Ojibwa mshi- "big," ziibi "river." Organized as a U.S. territory 1798; admitted as a state 1817. Related: Mississippian.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Mississippi
Note
Its name comes from the Mississippi River, which forms most of the state's western border.
Note
One of the Confederate states during the Civil War.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.