n.
Pronunciation: ˌ i-l ə - ' no ̇ i also - ' no ̇ iz
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural Illinois
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 Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin
2 : a member of any of the Illinois peoples
3 : the Algonquian language of the Illinois