Definition of "Illinois"

Illinois

/ˌɪləˈnɔɪ/

proper noun
1. A state of the United States, named for the people.
2. A confederation of Algonquian tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley.
3. The Algonquian language spoken by these tribes; the Miami-Illinois language.
  Quotations
  Another interesting Illinois word is the name of the celebrated chief, which the French made Chachagouache.
  1917, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, page 91
  PISTAKEE LAKE (Lake) Part of the Chain of Lakes, Pistakee is an Illinois word taken from pestekouy, meaning "buffalo"[.]
  2004, Sandy Nestor, Indian Placenames in America, volume 1, page 61
  These words are believed to have come from the Illinois word "irenweewa," which meant "he speaks in the ordinary way."
  2005, Jennifer Lee, The Illinois Confederacy of Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, ..., page 5
  Another Illinois word describing physical detention, kikiȣnakiȣi, meant “slave” in the seventeenth century, but in modern usage the root has softened into a meaning that suggests being detained, held up, or merely running late.
  2013, Brett Rushforth, Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries, page 56
4. A river in United States that flows from western Illinois into the Mississippi River.
5. A river in Colorado, United States that flows from the Never Summer Mountains in the Rockies into the Michigan River.
6. A river in Oklahoma, United States that flows from the Ozarks into the Arkansas River.
7. A river in Oregon, United States that flows from the southwestern corner of the state into the Rogue River.
8. Some townships in the United States, listed under Illinois Township.
9. University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
noun
plural Illinois
1. A member of the above-mentioned tribe.