idaho
/ˈaɪdəˌhoʊ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.91 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
An unincorporated community in Pike County, Ohio, United States, named for Idaho Territory.
name
University of Idaho
noun
In full Idaho potato: a variety of potato grown in Idaho, especially the Russet Burbank.
Example Sentences
- "Oregon’s uptick in marijuana sales along the Idaho border doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s all Idahoans who are lighting up, Lehner said."
Etymology
Uncertain; possibly from Plains Apache ídaahȩ́ (“Comanche”), though the Oxford English Dictionary states that the development of the state’s name from that word remains undocumented. The name Idaho was said to have been considered around 1860 for what was eventually called the Colorado Territory (now the state of Colorado) in 1861, and in 1863 was given to Idaho County (now part of Idaho); the county was named after a steamship launched on the Columbia River in 1860. The eccentric political lobbyist George Maurice Willing, Jr. (c. 1829 – 1874) claimed to have coined the name after a girl named Ida, though saying it was a Shoshoni term meaning “gem of the mountains” (no such term exists), but evidence suggests that there was use of the name in Colorado pre-dating Willing’s arrival in the West in 1859. The common noun (“type of potato”) is derived from the name of the state.
Word Breakdown
- Root: ídaahȩ́
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈaɪdəˌhoʊ/
- British English: /ˈaɪdəhəʊ/