Des Moines
English
Etymology
From the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French name of the nearby Rivière des Moines, which superficially means "river of the monks" and has traditionally been interpreted as a reference to the Trappist monks who settled along it. "It is more likely, however, to be a name of Native American origin, recorded in a 1673 text as moinguena", a (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Miami designation of the Moingona. The precise interpretation is uncertain; see Moingona.[1]
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Des Moines
- The capital city of Iowa and the county seat of Polk County.
- A city in Washington.
- A village in New Mexico.
- A river in the United States, that flows from southern Minnesota into the Mississippi.
Derived terms
Translations
the capital city of the state of Iowa
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References
- ^ Adrian Room, Placenames of the World (2006, →ISBN: "The river's own name is traditionally derived from French des moines, "of the monks", referring to French Trappist monks who settled here. It is more likely, however, to be a name of Native American origin, recorded in a 1673 text as moinguena. Recent research has interpreted this as Miami-Illinois mooyiinkweena, meaning "shitface," from mooy, "excrement," iinkwee, "face," and the suffix -na, a humorous (or abusive) nickname used by the Peoria Indians for their Illinois-speaking neighbors."
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Miami
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɔɪn
- English lemmas
- English proper nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English multiword terms
- en:Cities in Iowa, USA
- en:Cities in the United States
- en:State capitals of the United States
- en:Places in Iowa, USA
- en:Places in the United States
- en:Cities in Washington, USA
- en:Places in Washington, USA
- en:Villages in New Mexico, USA
- en:Villages in the United States
- en:Places in New Mexico, USA
- en:Rivers in the United States