wisconsin
/wəˈskɑnsən/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.36 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A state in the Upper Midwest region of the United States.
name
A river in the United States that flows from northern Wisconsin into the Mississippi.
name
University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Example Sentences
- "In the heart of Wisconsin there was once a small town called Doveland. But then something strange happened. Doveland disappeared in the 1990s. That is right, an entire town with buildings and residents vanished in thin air and left nothing behind."
- "On the invitation list: Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Tim Walz of Minnesota, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Wes Moore of Maryland and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico."
Etymology
Borrowed from French Ouisconsin, itself borrowed from an uncertain Native American language. Theories include: * Miami meeskohsinki or Algonquin meskousing, both meaning "it lies red", the name given to the Wisconsin River by one of the Algonquian-speaking American Indian groups living in the region at the time of European contact. "Meskousing" is known from maps drawn by the French from the 1670s onwards, it is believed subsequent transcribers mistook the stylized cursive "M" for "OU". * Menominee wēskōhsek (“a good place”), from Wēskōhsek Sēpēw ("the river where it is good to live") * An Ojibwe term, suggestions include miskwasiniig (“red stones”), referring to the red sandstone of the dells of the Wisconsin River; and wiishihkaanhs (“little lodge”), referring to the dwellings of the abundant beavers and muskrats. A researcher for the State of Wisconsin Historical Society concluded in frustration, "I have not found two Indians to agree on the meaning of this word."
Word Breakdown
- Root: wēskōhsek