Michigan
/ˈmɪʃ.ɪ.ɡən/noun
A state in the north-central United States, bordering the Great Lakes.
Did you know?Michigan comes from an Ojibwe word meaning something like “great water” or “large lake,” a reminder that many American place names preserve Indigenous geography beneath modern borders.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Contact / Indigenous
Ojibwe
mishigami
“large water; great lake”
17th Century
French
Michigamie / Michillimackinac
“French spellings and adaptations of Indigenous place names in the Great Lakes region”
18th Century
English
Michigan
“Name used in English for the region around the Great Lakes”
1837
English
Michigan
“Adopted as the official name of the U.S. state”