Rhode Island

English

Map of the US highlighting Rhode Island

Etymology

Originally spelled Rode-Island. From unstandardized Early Modern Dutch Roode Eylant (“Red Island”), after a description of Aquidneck Island given by navigator Adriaen Block: een rodlich Eylande (Modern Dutch een roodlijk eiland).[1]

Modern spelling due to influence from Rhodes, as Giovanni da Verrazzano had once likened an isle somewhere about the Narragansett Bay to it, though the precise identity of the isle he was referring to remains unknown. The earliest spelling showing influence from this is Rhod-Island.[2]

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ɹɵˈdaɪlɨnd/, IPA(key): /ˈɹoʊd ˈaɪ.lənd/
  • Audio (Rhode Island)(file)
  • Audio (US)(file)

Proper noun

Rhode Island

  1. A state of the United States of America. Capital: Providence.

Usage notes

  • As the smallest state in the US, Rhode Island is often used as a comparison for area or size.
  • Rhode Island is not an island.

Derived terms

Translations

References

See also

  • Appendix:Place names in Rhode Island

Further reading

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English Rhode Island.

Proper noun

Rhode Island (genitive Rhode Islands)

  1. Rhode Island

Portuguese

Proper noun

Rhode Island

  1. Rhode Island (a state of the United States)

Spanish

Proper noun

Rhode Island m

  1. Rhode Island
  • rodhense

See also

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