Mississippi

English

a map of the US highlighting the state of Mississippi

a map showing the Mississippi River and its drainage basin

Alternative forms

• Missippi (nonstandard)

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪ.sɪˈsɪ.pi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪpi

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ojibwe misi-ziibi, ᒥᓯ᐀ᓰᐱ (misi-siipi, “great river”).

Proper noun

Mississippi

2. A state of the United States.
   • 1970, Black Blood & The Chocolate Pickles, “Mississippi Mud”:

     Mississippi mud is soaked in black blood / How many more must die?

   • 2014 November 2, “State Legislatures and ALEC”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 23, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

     That’s right. In fact, a law which passed in Mississippi is so restrictive, it could close the one remaining abortion clinic they have in the entire state, meaning a Mississippi woman, right now, could be saying to herself, “I need to go someplace more progressive like Alabama.”

4. (with the) A major river in the United States, flowing southward from north-central Minnesota through Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota and Louisiana, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

Synonyms

• (state): the Magnolia State, the Hospitality State (nicknames); MS / MS. / Ms. / Ms, Miss. / MISS. / MISS (abbreviations)
• (river): the Big Muddy (also used for the Missouri), Big River, Body of a Nation, El Grande, El Grande de Soto, the Father of Waters, the Gathering of Waters, the Great River, the Mighty Mississippi, the Mississippi River, the Muddy Mississippi, Old Man River (nicknames)

Derived terms

• Mississippian
• Mississippi Bubble
• Mississippi County
• Mississippi gopher frog
• Mississippi kite
• Mississippi Mills
• Mississippi mud pie
• Mississippi plan
• Mississippi rifle
• Mississippi River
• Mississippi sax
• Mississippi Scheme
• Mississippi Territory
• Mississippi wind chime
• MS

Related terms

• Kichi Sipi
• Kitchissippi
• Nipissing

Translations

state

• Arabic: المِسِسِبِّي (al-misisibbī)
• Bulgarian: Мисиси́пи m (Misisípi)
• Catalan: Mississipí (ca)
• Chickasaw: Missipi'
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 密西西比 (zh) (Mìxīxībǐ), 密西西比州 (zh) (Mìxīxībǐ-zhōu)

• Czech: Mississippi (cs)
• Danish: Mississippi
• Dutch: Mississippi (nl)
• Esperanto: Misisipio
• Finnish: Mississippi (fi)
• French: Mississippi (fr)
• Galician: Mississippi (gl) m
• Georgian: მისისიპი (misisiṗi)
• German: Mississippi (de)
• Greek: Μισισίπι (el) (Misisípi)
• Hebrew: מיסיסיפי (he) f (misisipi)
• Hindi: मिसिसिपी (hi) (misisipī)
• Indonesian: Mississippi
• Italian: Mississippi (it)
• Japanese: ミシシッピ (Mishishippi)
• Khmer: មីស៊ីស៊ីបពី (miisiisiippii)
• Korean: 미시시피 (Misisipi)
• Lao: ມິສສິດສສິບປິ (mit sit sa sip pi)
• Latin: Mississippia f
• Macedonian: Мисиси́пи (Misisípi)
• Marathi: मिसिसिपी (misisipī)
• Navajo: Mísísípii hahoodzo
• Norwegian: Mississippi (no)
• Persian: میسیسیپی
• Polish: Missisipi (pl) n
• Portuguese: Mississippi (pt), Mississípi (pt) m
• Russian: Миссиси́пи (ru) m (Missisípi)
• Spanish: Misisipí, Misisipi (es)
• Swedish: Mississippi (sv)
• Thai: มิสซิสซิปปี (mít-sít-síp-bpîi)
• Turkish: Mississippi
• Ukrainian: Міссісі́пі (Missisípi)
• West Frisian: Mississippy
• Yiddish: מיסיסיפּי (misisipi)

river

• Albanian: Misisipi
• Arabic: المِسِسِبِّي (al-misisibbī)
• Arapaho: Beesniicíe
• Armenian: Միսիսիպի (Misisipi), Միսիսիպի գետ (Misisipi get)
• Azerbaijani: Missisipi (az)
• Basque: Mississippi
• Belarusian: Місісі́пі f (Misisípi)
• Bengali: মিসিসিপি নদী (miśiśipi nodi)
• Bulgarian: Мисисѝпи f (Misisìpi)
• Catalan: Mississipí (ca) m
• Cheyenne: Máʼxe-éʼometaaʼe
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 密西西比河 (zh) (Mìxīxībǐ-hé)

• Czech: Mississippi (cs) f
• Danish: Mississippifloden
• Dutch: Mississippi (nl)
• Esperanto: Misisipo
• Estonian: Mississippi (et)
• Finnish: Mississippi (fi)
• French: Mississippi (fr) m
• Galician: Mississippi (gl) m
• Georgian: მისისიპი (misisiṗi)
• German: Mississippi (de) m
• Greek: Μισσισσιππής n (Mississippís), Μισισιπής n (Misisipís)
• Hebrew: מיסיסיפי (he) (misisipi)
• Hungarian: Mississippi (hu)
• Icelandic: Mississippifljót f
• Indonesian: Mississippi
• Italian: Mississippi (it) m
• Japanese: ミシシッピ川 (Mishishippi-gawa)
• Kazakh: Миссисипи (kk) (Missisipi)
• Korean: 미시시피강 (misisipigang)
• Lao: ມິສສິດສສິບປິ (mit sit sa sip pi), ແມ່ນ້ຳມິສສິດສສິບປິ (mǣ nammit sit sa sip pi)
• Latvian: Misisipi f
• Lithuanian: Misisipė f
• Macedonian: Мисиси́пи (Misisípi)
• Malay: Mississippi
• Malayalam: മിസിസിപ്പി നദി (misisippi nadi)
• Marathi: मिसिसिपी (misisipī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Mississippi (no) f

  Nynorsk: Mississippielva f

• Ojibwe: ᒥᐦᓯᓰᐱ (misi-ziibi), ᑭᐦᒋᓰᐱ (gichi-ziibi)
• Pawnee: Kickaátit
• Persian: رود میسیسیپی (rud misisipi)
• Polish: Missisipi (pl) f
• Portuguese: Mississipi m, Mississípi (pt) m
• Romanian: Mississippi (ro) m
• Russian: Миссиси́пи (ru) f (Missisípi)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Мисисипи m

  Roman: Mississippi (sh) m

• Slovak: Mississippi
• Slovene: Misisipi m
• Spanish: Misisipí m, Misisipi (es) m
• Swedish: Mississippifloden
• Tagalog: Mississippi
• Thai: มิสซิสซิปปี (mít-sít-síp-bpîi), แม่น้ำมิสซิสซิปปี
• Turkish: Mississippi Nehri
• Ukrainian: Міссісі́пі f (Missisípi)
• Vietnamese: Sông Mississippi

Interjection

Mississippi

1. Used in a common chronometric counting scheme, in which each iteration is sequentially numbered and supposed to be approximately one second in length.
   • 1996 September, “Cheers & Jeers”, in Field and Stream, volume 101, page 12:

     Any reader who uses the old “One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, etc.” method to estimate distance to a storm, and doesn't get any further than a count of five to eight had better be in a safe shelter.

Noun

Mississippi (plural Mississippis)

1. A recitation of Mississippi (the interjection).
   • 1997, George Clark, The Small Bees’ Honey: Stories, Buffalo, NY: White Pine Press, page 129:

     I counted five Mississippis between each flash of lightning and the thunder crash that followed.

   • 2008, Tim Winton, chapter 3, in Breath, Picador UK Paperback 2008 edition, page 30:

     We had lungs like camel bladders by then; we sledged each other mercilessly, each daring the other to break the two-minute limit beneath the diving board. In the summer sea when it was flat-calm and there was nothing else to do but dive down and lie on the clean, ribbed bottom and hold our breaths to count Mississippis we got pretty close to our goal.

Noun

Mississippi (plural Mississippis)

1. (games) A variant of bagatelle.

See also

• Appendix:Words used as placeholders to count seconds
• Wikipedia article on the Mississippi River

Etymology 2

Although its current spelling may be derived from that of its much larger American cousin, it is most certainly a corruption of a different indigenous name, as the translation “great water” would not apply to a relatively minor tributary of the Ottawa, definitely the largest river in the area. Instead, the name may originate from Mazinaa[bikinigan]-ziibi, Algonquian for “[painted] image river”, referring to the pictographs found on Mazinaw Lake, though this is by no means proven.

Proper noun

the Mississippi

1. A river in Canada that flows from eastern Ontario into the Ottawa River.

Synonyms

• Mississippi River

Further reading

• Mississippi River (Ontario) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English Mississippi.

Proper noun

Mississippi (genitive Mississippis)

1. Mississippi (a state of the United States)

Finnish

Etymology

From English Mississippi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmisisipi/, [ˈmis̠iˌs̠ipi]
• IPA^(key): /ˈmisːisːipːi/, [ˈmis̠ːis̠ˌs̠ipːi] (or any combination of short/long)
• Rhymes: -ipːi
• Syllabification^(key): Mis‧sis‧sip‧pi
• Hyphenation^(key): Mis‧sis‧sip‧pi

Proper noun

Mississippi

1. Mississippi (a state of the United States)
2. (with the) Mississippi, Mississippi River (a major river in the United States, flowing southward from north-central Minnesota through Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota and Louisiana, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico)

Declension

Inflection of Mississippi (Kotus type 5*B/risti, pp-p gradation)
nominative		Mississippi	—
genitive		Mississipin	—
partitive		Mississippiä	—
illative		Mississippiin	—
		singular	plural
nominative		Mississippi	—
accusative	nom.	Mississippi	—
	gen.	Mississipin
genitive		Mississipin	—
partitive		Mississippiä	—
inessive		Mississipissä	—
elative		Mississipistä	—
illative		Mississippiin	—
adessive		Mississipillä	—
ablative		Mississipiltä	—
allative		Mississipille	—
essive		Mississippinä	—
translative		Mississipiksi	—
abessive		Mississipittä	—
instructive		—	—
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Mississippi (Kotus type 5*B/risti, pp-p gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Mississippini — accusative nom. Mississippini — gen. Mississippini genitive Mississippini — partitive Mississippiäni — inessive Mississipissäni — elative Mississipistäni — illative Mississippiini — adessive Mississipilläni — ablative Mississipiltäni — allative Mississipilleni — essive Mississippinäni — translative Mississipikseni — abessive Mississipittäni — instructive — — comitative — — second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Mississippisi — accusative nom. Mississippisi — gen. Mississippisi genitive Mississippisi — partitive Mississippiäsi — inessive Mississipissäsi — elative Mississipistäsi — illative Mississippiisi — adessive Mississipilläsi — ablative Mississipiltäsi — allative Mississipillesi — essive Mississippinäsi — translative Mississipiksesi — abessive Mississipittäsi — instructive — — comitative — — first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Mississippimme — accusative nom. Mississippimme — gen. Mississippimme genitive Mississippimme — partitive Mississippiämme — inessive Mississipissämme — elative Mississipistämme — illative Mississippiimme — adessive Mississipillämme — ablative Mississipiltämme — allative Mississipillemme — essive Mississippinämme — translative Mississipiksemme — abessive Mississipittämme — instructive — — comitative — — second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Mississippinne — accusative nom. Mississippinne — gen. Mississippinne genitive Mississippinne — partitive Mississippiänne — inessive Mississipissänne — elative Mississipistänne — illative Mississippiinne — adessive Mississipillänne — ablative Mississipiltänne — allative Mississipillenne — essive Mississippinänne — translative Mississipiksenne — abessive Mississipittänne — instructive — — comitative — — third-person possessor singular plural nominative Mississippinsä — accusative nom. Mississippinsä — gen. Mississippinsä genitive Mississippinsä — partitive Mississippiään Mississippiänsä — inessive Mississipissään Mississipissänsä — elative Mississipistään Mississipistänsä — illative Mississippiinsä — adessive Mississipillään Mississipillänsä — ablative Mississipiltään Mississipiltänsä — allative Mississipilleen Mississipillensä — essive Mississippinään Mississippinänsä — translative Mississipikseen Mississipiksensä — abessive Mississipittään Mississipittänsä — instructive — — comitative — —

Derived terms

• mississippialaiskausi
• mississippiläinen

compounds

• mississipinalligaattori
• mississipinkäki
• Mississippi-kausi
• mississippinalligaattori

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English Mississippi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mis.sisˈsip.pi/, /mis.siˈsip.pi/, /mis.siˈsi.pi/
• Rhymes: -ippi, -ipi
• Hyphenation: Mis‧sis‧sìp‧pi

Proper noun

Mississippi m

1. (with the) Mississippi, Mississippi River (a major river in the United States, flowing southward from north-central Minnesota through Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota and Louisiana, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico)
2. Mississippi (a state of the United States)

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• Mississípi, Mississipi

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /mi.siˈsi.pi/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mi.siˈsi.pi/

Proper noun

Mississippi m

1. (with the) Mississippi, Mississippi River (a major river in the United States, flowing southward from north-central Minnesota through Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota and Louisiana, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico)
2. Mississippi (a state of the United States)

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmisisipi]

Proper noun

Mississippi n

1. Mississippi (a state of the United States)

References

• “Mississippi”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025