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Il·li·nois¹

(ĭl′ə-noi)

n. pl. Illinois

1. A member of a confederacy of Native American peoples formerly inhabiting southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and parts of eastern Iowa and Missouri, with a present-day population mostly in Oklahoma.

2. The Algonquian language of the Illinois.

[French, variant of earlier ilinoüek, of Algonquian origin, perhaps meaning "those who speak normally" and ultimately from Proto-Algonquian *elen-, regular, ordinary, in Algonquian fashion + *we·-, make sound, speak.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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