- pronunciation:
- rod
aI
l
nd
- features:
- Word History
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition: |
a New England state on the Atlantic coast between Connecticut and Massachusetts. (abbr.: RI)
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| derivation: |
Rhode Islander (n.) |
The full name of
Rhode Island is "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." In 1663, a group of island and mainland communities formed an English colony with that name. The colony probably took its name from
Roodt Eylandt, the Dutch words for "red island" chosen by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block in 1614. Almost one hundred years earlier, Italian explorer Giovanni Verrazano had named a coastal island "Rhodes Island," after the Mediterranean island, Rhodes.