originally as the name of the river, from French, from Algonquian (French missionaries first penetrated the river valley in its upper reaches), literally "big river;" cf. Ojibwa mshi- "big," ziibi "river." Organized as a U.S. territory 1798; admitted as a state 1817. Related: Mississippian.
State in the southern United States bordered by Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana to the south, and Louisiana and Arkansas to the west. Its capital and largest city is Jackson.
Note: Its name comes from the Mississippi River, which forms most of the state's western border.
Note: One of the Confederate states during the Civil War.
The longest river in the United States, flowing over two thousand miles from Minnesota to Louisiana and into the Gulf of Mexico.