Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - illinois

 I. noun  (plural ~)  Etymology: French, earlier Eriniouai, singular, probably from a word in an Algonquian language derived from Proto-Algonquian *elen- ordinary + *-we• make a sound  Date: 1703  1. plural a confederacy of American Indian peoples of ~, Iowa, and Wisconsin  2. a member of any of the ~ peoples  3. the Algonquian language of the ~  II. geographical name  1. river 273 miles (439 kilometers) ~ flowing SW into Mississippi River  2. state central United States capital Springfield area 56,400 square miles (146,640 square kilometers), population 12,419,293  • ~an adjective or noun