Connecticut
/kəˈnɛtɪkət/noun
A U.S. state in New England; also the name of a river in the northeastern United States.
Did you know?Connecticut comes from an Algonquian word recorded by English colonists as something like *quonehtacut*, referring to the Connecticut River’s “long tidal river” character—not a European invention at all.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Contact
Algonquian
*quonehtacut*
“A Native term referring to the long tidal river”
17th Century
English
Connecticut
“English colonial spelling for the river and surrounding settlement”
1630s
English
Connecticut River
“The major river in New England, named from the Native term”
18th Century
English
Connecticut
“Established as the name of the colony and later the state”
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