Illini
/ɪˈlaɪnaɪ/noun
A member of the historic Illinois Indigenous peoples or, especially, a person associated with the University of Illinois.
Did you know?The University of Illinois retired its Chief Illiniwek mascot in 2007 after decades of criticism that the performance caricatured Illinois peoples, whose own communities had not authorized it.
Etymological Timeline
Before European contact
Miami-Illinois
ilenweewa / ilenweewi
“A form associated with the Illinois peoples; its exact internal meaning is debated, though it is often connected with a term for person or man.”
17th Century
French
Illinois
“French rendering of an Indigenous ethnonym encountered by explorers and missionaries in the Illinois Country.”
17th–18th Century
French
Illinois
“The name used for the Illinois Confederation and for the region connected with those peoples.”
19th Century
English
Illinois
“An English place-name and ethnonym, later applied to the U.S. state.”
20th Century
American English
Illini
“A shortened form of Illinois used for people, institutions, and athletic identity associated with the University of Illinois.”
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