The Origin and Meaning of ‘Missouri’
Open Access
- 1 September 1999
- journal article
- Published by University Library System, University of Pittsburgh in Names
- Vol. 47 (3), 281-290
- https://doi.org/10.1179/nam.1999.47.3.281
Abstract
The name Missouri derives from 8emessourit, an Algonquian term that refers to “people with canoes (made from logs),” and the popular mistranslation “muddy water” derives from Pekitanoui, an Algonquian name for the river. These terms were first used in 1673 by Marquette in his journal and on his map of the Mississippi River and it tributaries. Within a generation, French explorers and cartographers, using a variety of spellings and grammatical forms, had simplified the name to Missouri and applied it to the river as well as to the people, completely abandoning Pekitanoui. Those who lived on its banks—the Otos and Missouris—had other (Siouan) terms for the river. The word Missouri has become a popular American toponym and now is used in over 300 names in the USGS database.Keywords
This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Anglicized Native American Placenames in Oregon: Their Number and DistributionNames, 1996
- Chinook Jargon Placenames as Points of Mutual Reference: Discourse, Intersubjectivity, and Environment Within an Intercultural Toponymic ComplexNames, 1996
- The Origin and Meaning of Chippewa Place Names Along the Lake Superior Shoreline Between Grand Island and Point AbbayeNames, 1984
- Onondaga Iroquois Place–Names: An Approach to Historical and Contemporary Indian Landscape PerceptionNames, 1984
- The Expansion of Ojibway and French Place – names into the Lake Superior Region in the Seventeenth CenturyNames, 1980
- Linguistic Geography and Names Ending in ⟨i⟩American Speech, 1960
- Pronunciation of the Word 'Missouri'American Speech, 1933