Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Illinois

play
noun Il·li·nois \ˌi-lə-ˈnȯi also -ˈnȯiz\

Definition of Illinois

plural

Illinois

  1. 1 plural :  a confederacy of American Indian peoples of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin

  2. 2 :  a member of any of the Illinois peoples

  3. 3 :  the Algonquian language of the Illinois

From the M-W Editors

alt-597a99e699d07
July 2017 Words of the Day Quiz
alt-5978a79b75e17
Trending: 'Transgender' Americans Face New Restrictions
image1358596246
Words About Word Play
alt-597a00ef4b9d7
'Motif' vs 'Leitmotif'

Origin and Etymology of illinois

French, earlier Eriniouai, singular, probably from a word in an Algonquian language derived from Proto-Algonquian *elen- ordinary + *-we· make a sound

Illinois

play
geographical name Il·li·nois \ˌi-lə-ˈnȯi also -ˈnȯiz\

Definition of Illinois

  1. 1 river 273 miles (439 kilometers) long in Illinois flowing southwest into the Mississippi River

  2. 2 state in the central part of the U.S. having the Mississippi River as its western boundary and bordering on Lake Michigan in the northeast; capital Springfield area 56,400 square miles (146,640 square kilometers), population 12,830,632

Illinoisan

play \ˌi-lə-ˈnȯi-ən also -ˈnȯi-zən\ adjective or noun

Learn More about illinois

  1. Britannica English: Translation of Illinois for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about Illinois

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up Illinois? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

inhere

play

to be a fixed element or attribute

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. transgender Trump reverses military policy allowing transgender people to serve

  2. beleaguer 'Being subjected to constant or repeated trouble or harassment'

  3. scaramouch A new White House communications director

  4. non sequitur “It does not follow”

  5. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Illinois

Test Your Vocabulary

July 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

  • alt-597a99e699d07
  • Which is a synonym of gauche?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-597a00ef4b9d7
'Motif' vs 'Leitmotif'

A pattern emerges.

alt-5978b44edfb13
Our (Almost) Final Word on 'Penultimate'

The ultimate guide to using penultimate.

alt-5978cb55e8ba5
The Grammatical History of 'Awaken'/'Awoken'/'Awakened'

Or you can just go back to bed.

alt-59775cb5d7779
Words We're Watching: 'Aquafaba'

Don't dump out the bean water just yet...

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

alt-597a99e699d07
July 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

Test your knowledge.

Take the quiz
emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game